A third police officer who responded to January’s riot at the U.S. Capitol building died by suicide last week, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department said Monday.
Gunther Hashida, 43, was found dead at his home last Thursday nearly seven months after he responded to the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6. He was an 18 year veteran of the MPD and was assigned to the Emergency Response Team within the Special Operations Division.
“We are grieving as a Department and our thoughts and prayers are with Officer Hashida’s family and friends,” a department spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.
Hashida is the third police officer who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6 to die by suicide.
He leaves behind “a loving wife, sister, 3 children, and a wonderful family,” according to a GoFundMe page set up Sunday to pay for a memorial service. As of Monday afternoon it had raised nearly $17,000 from more than 200 donors.
Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith, a 12-year veteran of the force, and US Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood, a 16-year Capitol Police veteran, also died by suicide in the days after the attack.
