On-duty CPD officer kills self while sitting in vehicle on Near West Side
Bechina’s apparent suicide comes months after another police officer, a 36-year-old man, shot himself in a patrol car with his service weapon. The officer killed himself after “battling personal hardships,” Guglielmi tweeted in July.
By Tom Schuba
An on-duty Chicago police officer fatally shot himself Monday afternoon on the Near West Side.
The 47-year-old officer, Steven Bechina, was found unresponsive inside his vehicle in the first block of North Desplaines, according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead, police said.
An autopsy Tuesday found Bechina died of his wound and his death was ruled a suicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Bechina was a sergeant in the Chicago Police Department’s Mass Transit Unit, police said.
“Our hearts are heavy and deepest condolences are with his family and fellow officers tonight,” Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted.
He is survived by his wife, Lori; his children, Marty and Luke; his mother, Noreen; his sister, Kim (Jim) Galbraith; and his many nieces, nephews, friends and young athletes he coached.
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A police sergeant in Chicago fatally shot himself in a squad car while working on Labor Day, officials said.
Steven Bechina, 47, was found unresponsive in his vehicle by fellow officers Monday afternoon in the city’s West Loop. He was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition but was later pronounced dead, the Chicago Sun-Times reports, citing police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Anthony Guglielmi, a police department spokesman, confirmed the officer’s death Monday on Twitter.
“Devastating news as an on duty #ChicagoPolice officer has taken his own life this evening,” Guglielmi wrote. “Our hearts are heavy and deepest condolences are with his family and fellow officers tonight.”
There’s no indication that anything job-related — such as a call for service or an encounter with a citizen — played a role in Bechina’s death. The officer used his own service weapon in the shooting, Guglielmi told The Post early Tuesday.
Bechina’s apparent suicide comes months after another police officer, a 36-year-old man, shot himself in a patrol car with his service weapon. The officer killed himself after “battling personal hardships,” Guglielmi tweeted in July.
“Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and certainly his police family,” Guglielmi told the Chicago Tribune at the time. “We know they’re very affected. The superintendent talked to those folks today. It’s very difficult for us and we’ve made awareness about suicide a priority because we know we’re one of the departments with the highest rates of suicide.”
Chicago, CPD Police Officer Steve Bechina Commits Suicide By Fatally Shooting Himself In Squad Car On Labour Day In Downtown Chicago
The father of three reportedly shot himself in a squard car as American marks 2018 Labor Day on Monday the 3rd of September 2018.
47-year-old Steve whose lifeless body was found by a fellow officer was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead moments later.
Steve’s apparent suicide comes months after another officer fatal shot himself in a patrol car with his service weapon after struggling with untold hardships.