A second police officer in Washington, D.C., who responded to the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6 died by suicide days after the incident, according to a senior law enforcement official.
Metropolitan Police Department Officer Jeffrey Smith killed himself on an unspecified date following the insurrection on Capitol Hill, acting MPD Police Chief Robert Contee told the House Appropriations Committee in a closed briefing Tuesday.
Smith was a 12-year member of Washington’s police force and was assigned to the city’s northwestern neighborhoods of Chevy Chase, Cleveland Park, and Georgetown.
His death marks the second in which a law enforcement officer who defended the Capitol later died by suicide. Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood, a 15-year veteran, died by suicide in the days after former President Donald Trump’s supporters attempted to overtake the building.
“We honor the service and sacrifices of Officers Brian Sicknick, Howard Liebengood, and Jeffery Smith, and offer condolences to all the grieving families,” Contee said.
Sicknick died as a result of injuries sustained during the riot. At least 65 MPD officers were injured as a result, though Contee said many more likely did not report minor injuries. More than 850 officers were sent to the Capitol complex that afternoon, and another 250 officers were deployed in the area.
