Results tagged “copsuicide”

A former NYPD police officer fatally shot himself after accusing his wife, also an NYPD cop, of having an affair with another cop. The NY Post reports that Cecil Ramsay, 51, confronted wife Dady Belfort, 47, and Edwin Chittick, 40, when the pair arrived at Belfort and Ramsay's home in North Babylon, Long Island. According to Suffolk County police, the pair denied an affair and Chittick said, "I'm not here to have an argument with you. I'm leaving." Belfort and Chittick fled in her car; from Newsday, "Ramsay fired at least three times at the moving vehicle. One of the bullets hit Chittick's hand. Neither Chittick nor Belfort returned fire." Ramsay then shot himself; Belfort reportedly didn't realize her husband turned the gun on himself and kept driving to take Chittck to the hospital. The altercation and shooting was apparently witnessed by a construction crew.

Newsday reports that the off-duty police officer who killed his wife and then himself had used his service revolver. According to Suffolk police, Francis Cole, an NYPD lieutenant, had first stabbed wife Elena in the chest with a kitchen knife in their Centereach home. Their 18-year-old daughter "tried to intervene during or just after the knife attack," but Cole hit her in the face (Newsday says it's "unclear if the blow was intentional"). He then used his .38-caliber revolver to shot his twice in the head and then turned the gun on himself. Suffolk Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick said the daughter "definitely witnessed the shooting."

Yesterday, the funeral for NYPD Lieutenant Michael Pigott, who killed himself a week after issuing a command that led to a man's death by Taser, was held in Islip, Long Island. Hundreds of police officers were on hand to remember the 21-year veteran of the force, who left behind his wife and three children. Rev. Douglas Madlon revealed during the service that Pigott, stripped of his badge and gun, was afraid he wouldn't be a police officer and had said to him, "I'm not a desk person." One fellow cop told Newsday, "It's a horrible, horrible thing. He was a great man. He was a cop's cop." And while there was bitterness from some police officers and even Pigott's own father towards the NYPD, Police Commission Ray Kelly attended the wake over the weekend but not the funeral "out of sensitivity to the family."

Hundreds of officers from the NYPD and elsewhere came out to pay their respects to Lieutenant Michael Pigott yesterday at the first day of his wake in Islip. Pigott died Thursday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a week after being embroiled in a media frenzy following the Taser-induced death of an emotionally disturbed man. Friends and family paid tribute to Pigott yesterday with one lifelong friend telling Newsday, "He was a gentle-hearted person, big heart, generous, friendly, sweet. Everyone loved him." There were also definite feelings of bitterness in the air due to the circumstances surrounding Pigott's death. Some colleagues were upset at Commissioner Ray Kelly's denial of an antique truck from Piggott's unit to be used during his funeral. And one guest lashed out at reporters saying, “You people are half of what caused this, O.K.? The media and the pressure you put on this man that did nothing wrong, you are responsible.”

The wake for NYPD Lieutenant Michael Pigott, who killed himself on Thursday, is being held in Islip, Long Island today and tomorrow, with funeral service on Monday. Pigott shot himself in the head at Emergency Service Unit headquarters, apparently racked with guilt and worry after his command led to the fatal Tasering of emotionally disturbed man, Iman Morales, in Brooklyn on September 24.

NYPD Emergency Services Unit Lieutenant Michael Pigott, who killed himself yesterday morning, left behind a suicide note noting his remorse and concern over his family. A police source told the Post, "He didn't want his family to see him cuffed up and jailed. The guy felt he disgraced his family."