NYPD Cop Shoots Self In Head; Four NYC Cops Have Committed Suicide in 2012

An off-duty NYPD cop reportedly shot himself in the head inside his Bronx home Wednesday, The Daily News reports. The unidentified officer is clinging to his life at Jacobi Medical Center. Cops responded to his Holland Ave. address in Van Nest after a 911 call at 9:45PM Wednesday.

“He was always smiling and happy,” Nathan Vellon 20, whose family owns the home the cop was living in, told The News. “He seemed like a nice guy.”

Four NYPD cops have committed suicide with a gun in 2012.

On January 15th, rookie cop Patrick Werner, only 23, killed himself inside his parents' Westchester County home after getting into a car crash and fleeing the scene. Sources say he'd been arguing with his girlfriend on the phone when he crashed.

On January 19th, Terrence Dean, 28, of the 111th Precinct in Queens, shot and killed himself while on duty after his fiancee warned the precinct of his worsening depression.

On Super Bowl Sunday, officer Brian Saar died in his Long Island home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after having a fight with his wife at a party.

And on February 13th, a 14 year veteran of the NYPD, 39-year-old Matthew Schindler pulled over on the side of the Long Island Expressway near Jericho and shot himself in the head. Minutes before he texted his sergeant to say his goodbyes.

“He was one of the nicest people we ever met,” a family friend of Schindler's, Ryan Proce, told The New York Post. “He’s just an all-around great guy.”

Troubled cops can call POPPA, Police Organization Providing Peer Assistance, for counseling.