CPD Suicide – It has been determined that the death of an off-duty Chicago police officer discovered inside a West Loop home on Thursday was suicide.
The 29-year-old man was discovered with a gunshot wound to his head inside a house in the 1600 block of West Warren Boulevard at approximately 2:35 p.m., according to Chicago police. At the scene, he was declared deceased.
His death was declared a suicide by the Cook County medical examiner’s office, according to autopsy results that were made public on Friday. He is this year’s at least the second CPD officer to have committed suicide.
Celal Cenker Surgit, 54, who worked for the agency for almost 20 years, was discovered dead inside his West Ridge home last month from a gunshot wound that he had self-inflicted, according to the medical examiner’s office and police.
Weeks before the agency suffered three suicides in a week, a city inspector general report released at the end of 2022 stated that the police department has battled in recent years to maintain adequate mental health resources for personnel. According to a 2017 U.S. Justice Department investigation, Chicago police officers had a suicide rate that was 60% more than the country as a whole.