A Washington, DC, cop who dedicated suicide after the US Capitol breach was struck in the head with a steel pole during the lethal siege — and was by no means fairly the similar, his wife mentioned in a report Friday.
Capitol Police Officer Jeffrey Smith, 35, suffered the blow whereas defending the constructing on Jan. 6 at 5:35 p.m. when a rioter tossed the object, hitting his face and helmet, in line with the Washington Put up.
After enduring the damage, Smith was positioned on sick go away and suffered fixed ache earlier than killing himself roughly every week after the constructing was breached, his wife Erin Smith, informed the paper.
“He wasn’t the similar Jeff that left on the sixth [of January]… I simply tried to consolation him and let him know that I beloved him,” she mentioned. “I informed him I’d be there if he wanted something, that it doesn’t matter what we’ll get by means of it. I attempted to do the greatest I might.”
Smith, who was ordered again to work on Jan. 14, shot himself in the head the subsequent day, inside his Ford Mustang close to a scenic overlook of the Potomac River, the paper reported.
During the constructing breach, Smith informed his wife he feared for his life, at one level sending her an ominous textual content that learn, “London has fallen.”
He was one in all two DC cops who dedicated suicide in the days following the US Capitol riot.
Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood additionally took his personal life quickly after the rebellion.
When you or somebody you realize wants assist, name the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255).
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