A third cop who responded to Capitol riot has died by suicide

A third police officer who responded in the January 6 Capitol riot has killed himself (Picture: AP)

A third police officer who responded to the January 6 Capitol Riot has killed himself.

DC Metropolitan police officer Gunther Hashida, 43, took his own life on July 29, according to a GoFundMe account set up by his family. His death was confirmed by DC’s Metropolitan Police Department.

Details around Hashida’s death were not immediately disclosed. His family has not said that his death was owed to the Capitol riot.

Hashida is survived by his wife, three children and a sister.

‘In his work as an officer with the DC Metropolitan Police Department, he worked to serve and protect the public. He was a devoted and loving husband and father,’ Hashida’s sister-in-law wrote in the GoFundMe page.  

‘This fund will help support his memorial service and his family in the loss of his love and guidance.’

As of Monday afternoon, the page had raised more than $12,000 of its $50,000 goal.

His death comes after Capitol officer Howard Liebengood, 51, killed himself three days after the insurrection. On January 15, DC police officer Jeffrey Smith, who also responded to the riot, shot himself in the head on the way to work.

Hashida ‘should be remembered for his heroism that day, and every other day he served in uniform’, tweeted CNN’s law enforcement correspondent Whitney Wild.

He graduated from the police academy in 2003. It was not immediately known whether he worked for the Metropolitan Police Department for his whole career in law enforcement.

A contributor to the GoFundMe page wrote that Hashida ‘was and will always be a model human being’.

‘His work ethic, humbleness and dedication are something most people strive for and never attain,’ the person wrote. ‘I am blessed to not only have known him personally but knew him as an officer.’ 

Breaking story, check back for updates…

from News – Metro https://ift.tt/3ymMxHs