D.C. police officer's suicide after Jan. 6 riot declared line-of-duty death
"The death of a Washington police officer who died by suicide just days after he was assaulted during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has been ruled a line-of-duty death, a finding that makes his widow eligible for enhanced survivor benefits.
“Based on evidence submitted by the petitioner and the Department, we find that Officer Smith sustained a personal injury on January 6, 2021, while performing his duties and that his injury was the sole and direct cause of his death,” the D.C. Police and Firefighters’ Retirement and Relief Board wrote in a letter obtained by NBC News on Wednesday.
Smith, according to his widow, described Jan. 6, 2021, as the worst day of his life. After her husband’s death, Erin Smith found out she had lost her medical benefits through his job while she was standing at a pharmacy counter.
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A former D.C. chief medical examiner said in an earlier review that there was “a direct cause and effect relationship between the line of duty work trauma on Jan. 6 and Jeffrey Smith’s death,” adding that Smith had “no prior history of depression, mental health issues or mental health treatment.”
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David P. Weber, an attorney for Smith's estate, said it's very rare for an officer suicide to be declared a line-of-duty death. "This is the first time where someone who has suffered a brain injury, and an emotional injury, has been acknowledged as a line-of-duty death," Weber said. "This will impact widows, widowers, children and parents of everyday heroes who have suffered these injuries in the line of duty."
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/dc-police-officer-died-suicide-jan-6-riot-declared-line-duty-death-rcna19433