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10th NYPD Officer Dies By Suicide This Year
By
Claire Lampen
Published Oct 16, 2019
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By
Claire Lampen
Published Oct 16, 2019
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An NYPD sergeant fatally shot himself in his Queens home while off-duty on Tuesday. Linhong Li, 33, is the 10th officer to have died by suicide in 2019.
Li's wife reportedly found him lying in a pool of his own blood when she returned to their Fresh Meadows home on Tuesday night, sometime between 8 and 9:30 p.m. She called 911, and according to the NY Daily News, EMS rushed him to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the head.
"Tragically, we have lost another NYPD member to suicide," Police Commissioner James O'Neill tweeted Wednesday, along with a link to the NYPD mental health resource page. "We’re taking great steps to end this mental-health crisis, and we vow to always keep fighting. Please take care of yourselves and regularly check up on your colleagues and loved ones."
In June, Deputy Chief Steven Silks, executive officer of the Patrol Borough Queens North, fatally shot himself weeks before his mandatory retirement, the first in what has since become a string of department suicides. In August, one day apart, Johnny Rios and Robert Echeverria became the eighth and ninth NYC cops to die by suicide this year. According to the NY Times, more local officers die by suicide than on the line of duty every year, but the past four months have been particularly intense: Four NYPD members died by suicide in all of 2018, according to Newsday.
In July, the NYPD announced it would launch a peer counseling program in an effort to help officers address their mental health, and in August, NYPD Chief of Patrol Terrence Monahan told WNYC's Brian Lehrer: "It's all right to come ask us or even go outside the agency. Get the help, if you're feeling that dark moment, get the help. It's really devastating to see, even as we're talking about this, that it continues."
Li reportedly worked the 24th Precinct on the Upper West Side, receiving the First Deputy Commissioner’s Award for highest academic average upon graduating the Police Academy in 2012. Before joining the NYPD, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps, completing a tour in Iraq. Responding to news of his death, Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted a list of support hotlines.
"We’ve now lost ten members of the NYPD to suicide this year.," he wrote. "We’ll stop at nothing to end this crisis. If you or someone you know needs help, please reach out. Your city is here for you. Please keep this good man, his family and the NYPD in your hearts today."
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.
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