Houston Police Officer Commits Suicide in Station

HOUSTON, Texas – A Houston police sergeant died in an apparent suicide while inside a district police station.

Police officers found the body of a Houston Police Department 21-year veteran sergeant inside the Westside Patrol Station. The sergeant appears to be the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, MyFoxHouston reported Friday morning.

“Unfortunately and sadly, we are here to announce that at about 8:35 a.m. members of the Houston Police Department’s Westside Command discovered one of our family members – a sergeant that had been on for about 21 years – was found deceased from a single gunshot wound to the head,” Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said in a press briefing.  It appears to be a suicide and is a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

Chief Acevedo said he would not be releasing the name of the sergeant out of respect for the family. He acknowledged the man had two children, ages 10 and 12. “We want to make sure they don’t hear about this from anybody but their mother,” he explained.

Acevedo said staff became concerned when the sergeant did not show up for the beginning of his shift. They conducted a search of the building and discovered his lifeless body in a stairwell on the fourth floor of the police station.  The chief asked the media to respect the family’s privacy as they grieve their loss.

“Please pray for the family — pray for those young children – and for their colleagues.

The chief stated there would be an investigation into the apparent suicide by the police sergeant. “We will be conducting what we call a psychological autopsy,” he explained. The chief stated this is standard practice following a suicide of a police officer. “We know that life brings us a lot of stress. We know that a lot of factors go into these incidents occurring and we owe it to the family and to one another to make sure we have a clear understanding of what led to this day.”

Speaking of the sergeant’s family, Acevedo said, “They will not take this journey alone. We will be with them every step of the way

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.