By Rosemary Sobol
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — Grief counselors have been sent to the Calumet District police station on the Far South Side after a veteran officer collapsed and died Tuesday morning, two days after another officer fatally shot himself in the station’s parking lot.
In the latest incident, an officer in her 40s collapsed shortly before 5 a.m. at the station at 727 W. 111th St., where she had been assigned, according to chief police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
The officer was taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The officer had been on the force for more than 10 years, Guglielmi said.
He did not know what caused the death. Her body was to be taken to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
On Sunday night, a 36-year-old officer shot himself in the parking lot of the station at about 7:30 p.m. He was in a patrol car and used his service weapon, according to authorities. An autopsy Monday ruled his death a suicide.
“The past few days have been difficult for the Chicago Police Department,” Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a statement. “As part of our ongoing reform efforts, we are making significant investments in mental health for our officers.”
Johnson said a chaplin and grief counselors would be made available “to our police and co-workers that knew both officers.”
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