FOX LAKE, Ill. (AP) — The son of a suburban Chicago police officer who was shot to death this month is angrily disputing any suggestion that his father took his own life.
Donald “D.J.” Gliniewicz tells the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald that Fox Lake Police Lieutenant Charles Joseph Gliniewicz “never once had a single suicidal thought in his life” and that his family is upset about any suggestion that he killed himself.
The comments follow Lake County Coroner Dr. Thomas Rudd’s statements last week that he had not yet ruled out the possibility that Gliniewicz’s Sept. 1 death was a suicide or an accident.
Gliniewicz was shot in a remote area after saying on his radio that he was pursuing three suspicious men. No arrests have been made and no suspects have been identified.
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Photo: Donald Gliniewicz, son of Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz. (Patrick Kunzer/ Daily Herald via AP)
I imagine that suicide deprives his family of benefits and / or life insurance proceeds.
Sadly sometimes people are fighting an internal battle and don’t tell anyone about it.
Edited: to correct per the reply to my initial post where I said people that talk about it don’t usually do it.
Yes - and suicide is such a difficult thing for family members who loved the individual to comprehend.
Actually, that is not necessarily true. It was a widely held premise for many years, but people who talk about suicide do follow through (and members of certain professions, including police officers, have a higher risk of suicide). This is why experts tell us to take all references to suicide seriously.
It also closes a cold case.