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A veteran cop became the ninth NYPD officer to commit suicide this year when he shot himself in the head at his Queens home Wednesday evening \u2014 just a day after a fellow city policeman killed himself, authorities said.<\/p>\n
Robert Echeverria, 56, who was assigned to the NYPD\u2019s Strategic Response Group and who worked for the department for more than 20 years, shot himself at his Laurelton home shortly after 6 p.m., police sources said.<\/p>\n
Medics responded and rushed him to North Shore University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the sources said.<\/p>\n
A neighbor was stunned by the tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is heartbreaking to see a family torn apart no matter the situation,\u201d said Brenden Betts, 23, who works for the Department of Transportation.<\/p>\n
\u201cMental- health awareness is probably the number-one critical issue not being spoken of in this city today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NYPD, reeling amid the rash of suicides, issued a tweet that said, \u201cTo anyone who may be struggling, know that there is support \u00adavailable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Echeverria\u2019s death comes a day after NYPD Officer Johnny Rios fatally shot himself at about 3 a.m. Tuesday in the Yonkers home he shared with his fianc\u00e9e and her kids.<\/p>\n
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Officer Robert Echeverria<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cops like NYPD suicide victim Robert Echeverria keep their mental health struggles a secret for fear their bosses will take their guns away \u2014 and demote them to a desk job where they\u2019ll lose their overtime pay, his sister told The Post.<\/p>\n \u201cI offered my brother $500 to go to a private psychiatrist,\u201d Eileen Echeverria said Friday, two days\u00a0after the troubled officer killed himself<\/a>\u00a0in his Laurelton, Queens home.<\/p>\n \u201cHe said, \u2018I can\u2019t go to a psychiatrist because they\u2019ll put me on the rubber gun squad,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to find out,\u201d she said he told her. \u201cForget it. I\u2019ll be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n Before Echeverria, 56, held a gun to his head and pulled the trigger on Wednesday, she had repeatedly warned the NYPD\u2019s Internal Affairs Bureau that he was a risk to himself or others, the sister said, speaking from her home in West Islip, NY.<\/p>\n Unless the NYPD gets more pro-active about cop suicides, the tragedies will continue to happen, she said. She urged that the NYPD reach out to at-risk officers first \u2014 rather than wait for cops to ask for help they may never seek.<\/p>\n In the days since her brother\u2019s suicide, Echeverria has been an outspoken critic against the mayor and the NYPD.<\/p>\n On Thursday, she revealed that\u00a0she had warned the NYPD<\/a>\u00a0as recently as June that her brother was a danger to himself and others so long as he kept his gun.<\/p>\n The NYPD \u201craided\u201d the home he shared with his wife and 11-year-old daughter, confiscated his weapon and had him speak to a doctor, she said. But within days he was deemed alright had his gun back.<\/p>\n \u201cMayor De Blasio puts a phone number on the TV and says for cops to reach out,\u201d she complained on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cNow their latest thing is to have an app on the phone. They\u2019re never going to do it,\u201d Echeverria told The Post.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause if they do, they know their job is in jeopardy. They\u2019re not going to get overtime. They\u2019re going to be put on the rubber gun squad, as they call it. They\u2019re never going to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Her brother had struggled since childhood with mental illness, she said, and by the time he killed himself was struggling not to lose his heavily-indebted Queens house.<\/p>\n He\u2019d also become a hoarder, his house so cluttered that one could barely walk in it, she said. An attached rental unit was \u201cfilled\u201d with his pet ferrets, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they raided it\u201d in June to briefly take his guns, \u201cthey didn\u2019t see that as a sign of mental illness? \u2026 I\u2019m not talking about someone being sloppy,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m talking about you can\u2019t get in the door.\u201d<\/p>\n Echeverria said her \u201cdream\u201d is for NYPD to employ a large staff of counselors who can reach out to cops \u2014 before tragedy strikes \u2014 rather than wait for cops to come to them.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy can\u2019t the city of New York hire a bunch of counselors and randomly call in officers and say, \u2018You know what, yesterday, Officer Jones, you were spat at. How you dealing with that? Officer Smith, there was a bucket thrown.’\u201d<\/p>\n She added, \u201cI know it\u2019s expensive, but it\u2019s a dream I have.<\/p>\n \u201cInternally the NYPD is broken. We know of nine suicides a year. I keep getting reached out to so many people\u201d whose lives have also been touched by an officer\u2019s suicide, \u201cfive years ago, four years ago, but they didn\u2019t talk about it.<\/p>\n Should another mother ever have to go through that? Should a wife? Should children?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\nSUICIDE COP\u2019S SISTER SAYS NYPD OFFICERS STAY MUM ON MENTAL HEALTH OUT OF DEMOTION FEARS<\/a><\/h6>\n
OFF-DUTY VETERAN NYPD COP COMMITS SUICIDE, NINTH THIS YEAR<\/a><\/h6>\n