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Sinead O'Connor Denies Reports She Planned To Jump From A Chicago Bridge

By Mae Rice in News on Jun 24, 2016 2:04PM

2016_sinead.jpg
Sinead O'Connor, via Getty Images

Sinead O'Connor posted to Facebook on Friday denying reports that she planned to attempt suicide by jumping from a Chicago bridge on Thursday night, though Chicago police are still on the lookout for her.

"Oh and by the way it's bullshit I jumped off a bridge," O'Connor wrote in an aside in her Facebook post, primarily celebrating Brexit's implications for Ireland. "[S]ome stupid bitch up at Swords Garda station decided she'd like to throw a bit of false and malicious gossip about is all."

Chicago police were still on the lookout for a suicidal O'Connor just before 9 a.m. this morning, though, after she had posted to Facebook."The message is still out there," a spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department told Chicagoist.

Chicago police received an alert from Irish authorities that O'Connor was in the area and suicidal at 5:06 p.m. on Thursday. Irish authorities said that a source in Ireland—a member of O'Connor's family, TMZ reports—had received a suicidal call from O'Connor.

She repotedly said "I'm on a bridge in Chicago and I'm going to jump," according to CPD.

The Irish singer has long struggled with suicidal thoughts. She briefly went missing in May in Wilmette, where she has reportedly been staying with friends since January. It's unclear if she was suicidal when she disappeared, but after she was found at a Chicago hotel, she posted a note to Facebook about her struggles with suicidal thoughts.

"Your understanding of my medical situation is medieval," she wrote in the note, addressed to her family. "I intend to bring every one of you to court for pushing me to the brink of death over and over."

She has discussed suicide in previous Facebook posts, and said in a 2007 interview that she attempted suicide in 1999, on her 33rd birthday.

If someone you know exhibits warning signs of suicide: do not leave the person alone, remove any firearms, alcohol, drugs or sharp objects that could be used in a suicide attempt, and call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional.