NCJ Number
193580
Date Published
2001
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article examines two case studies of "suicide-by-cop" (a suicidal person providing such a threat to an officer that the officer is forced to shoot him or her), and presents a list of diagnostic criteria.
Abstract
In the case studies, the events of the incident are detailed followed by a review of the findings of the subsequent investigation of the officer-involved shooting. In the first case, the investigation found that the deceased subject had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, and she was taking various prescription drugs in large amounts. The weapon that she brandished at the police officers was one of many the subject owned, and it was operable but not loaded. The subject's sister, whom the subject chased around the house, stated that her sister had said she was going to kill her and then commit suicide. The subject had no prior criminal history. In the second case, the investigation revealed that the subject, who was wounded but not killed in the encounter with police, had been fighting with his girlfriend, who called the police. The subject had taken as a hostage the child of the girlfriend and another male; the hostage had received two gunshot wounds to her face. The subject had an extensive record of assault and weapons violations. The subject, on one occasion, was taken by the Mass Transit Police to a psychiatric ward under an emergency petition. The author identifies significant factors associated with SBC. The incident is always started by a third party or the suspect, never the police; the incident is always in the form of a felony that will guarantee the police will respond; there will always be a retreat by the police, and this retreat will result from the intuition of a fatal outcome of the incident and not as a result of a movement for better cover. An attachment lists diagnostic criteria for suicide-by-cop.