After self-inflicting a gunshot wound, a Chicago police officer was reported to be in critical condition, authorities said Saturday afternoon. A spokesman for the Chicago police had earlier claimed that the male cop had perhaps committed suicide.

According to Ahern, the officer was transferred to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. Police say the unidentified cop was discovered dead inside his residence early on Friday. No other details were provided.

This comes in the wake of another police officer, 29-year-old Officer Patricia Swank, who passed away on July 2 by suicide according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

According to the medical examiner’s office, another police officer Sgt. Edward Dougherty, aged 52, committed suicide on March 12 in the Mount Greenwood area.

More than a dozen Chicago police officers have taken their own lives since 2018. At one point in time, the Chicago Police Department’s suicide rate was higher than the national average among police.

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