The death of an off-duty Chicago police officer found Thursday at a West Loop residence has been ruled a suicide.
The 29-year-old man was found around 2:35 p.m. in a home in the 1600 block of West Warren Boulevard with a gunshot wound to the head, Chicago police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Autopsy results released Friday ruled it a suicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
He is at least the second CPD officer to commit suicide this year.
Last month, Celal Cenker Surgit, 54, who spent nearly 20 years with the department, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside his West Ridge home, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
The police department has struggled in recent years to maintain adequate mental health resources for officers, according to a city inspector general report released in late 2022, weeks before the department experienced three suicides In a week.
In 2017, a U.S. Department of Justice report found that the suicide rate among Chicago police officers was 60% higher than the national law enforcement average.
The department has 18 counselors who provide mental health services to its approximately 11,600 members, which does not appear to be meeting its goal of assigning a counselor to each of its 22 police districts.
NBC Chicago
