Gunther Hashida, a D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officer, is the third law-enforcement member on the scene on January 6 to die by suicide
Photo: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia announced Monday that an officer who responded to the Capitol riot on January 6 has died by suicide. A department spokesperson identified the officer as Gunther Hashida, a member of the force’s emergency-response team within its special-ops division. Hashida, who joined the MDP in 2003, was found in his home on July 29.
Hashida’s death is the third suicide among law-enforcement officers who responded to the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. On January 10, the United States Capitol Police announced that Howard Liebengood had died by suicide. A 16-year veteran of the Capitol Police, he had been assigned to the Senate division of the force. On January 15, a 12-year Metropolitan Police Department veteran, Jeffrey Smith, died by suicide.
“We are grieving as a department, and our thoughts and prayers are with Officer Hashida’s family and friends,” an MPD spokesperson told CNN. As lawmakers investigate the events of January 6, much of the most powerful testimony has come from officers who responded to the violence, which injured over 150 members of law enforcement. Last week, on the first day of the House Select Committee investigation into the attack, Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonell compared the hand-to-hand combat to a “medieval battle” and recalled thinking, “This is how I’m going to die.
If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, contact the following people who want to help:The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
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