Murder/Suicide by a previous coworker

[Wakko]

I went to police academy with this girl and knew right away that she was bad news.  She had an anger management problem and a hate all attitude, but somehow got hired as an officer and made it through academy.  I'm friends with a Sgt. in this department and I warned him that she's trouble, so he looked for a way to fire her.  She was an exemplary police officer and so she retained her job and my buddy figured I just didn't get along with her. 

My Sgt. friend was first person on scene:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-0805officersuicide,0,4816779.story?coll=sfla-news-broward

PLANTATION · A Plantation policewoman fatally shot her firefighter boyfriend and then turned the gun on herself Friday in what authorities are investigating as an apparent murder-suicide.  Both names are being withheld until police can contact relatives.


The firefighter, 31, was a volunteer with the Plantation Fire Department but also was a firefighter full time in Palm Beach County, said police Sgt. Al Butler, a spokesman.

Hours after the 8 p.m. incident at the 800 block of 823 Northwest 98th Avenue, police still said it was unclear what caused the shooting. A reserve Plantation police officer who was a friend of the couple was at the home at the time and was injured, Butler said. He was taken to a local hospital, but his condition was not known. His role in the shooting was unclear and he was not identified.

Police and neighbors said there was a loud argument between the couple that spilled out of the home and into the street Friday afternoon, causing one neighbor to call 911.

Two Plantation police sergeants went to the home and did not charge anyone after ordering the woman to leave. The two-story home at the Quatraine III development is owned by the firefighter.

Police officers guarding the crime scene and blocking it with their squad cars were visibly shaken.

"It's been tough on a lot of the young officers," Butler said. Many of them knew the female officer, 30, who had been with the department for five years. Butler said he also knew her. "She was a good officer," he said. "A very good officer."



This is one instance where I wish I was wrong.     In this picture she's the girl on the far right with the long hair. 

[89MOPAR]

 Good thing you didn't date her ever.
She looks buff enough to maybe beat up her boyfriend instead.
Poor boyfriend has probably been listening to her ranting and providing emotional support for years, and this is his payback !

[dodge freak]

Wow, thats very sad. She look like such a nice happy person. She might have just flip out at him and was so mad and angry so she shot him. She knew she was going to jail and then shot her self. This is why I don't like having guns lying around. Sure some people have no problems with them but some are like her and just flip out. Now there is 2 people dead. What a waste of life.

[Silver R/T]

they should check out cop's personalities more careful before they hand out a badge to them. Only attractive chick is on the far left, others look like guys from Blue Collar TV show

[Wakko]

The one on the far left is the coolest chick you'll ever meet.  We carpooled for the whole six months of academy.  We'd put the top down on the Caddy and she'd let her blond hair fly...she was awesome.  All of the girls in the pics are married. 

Unfortunately with the need for cops, shortcuts have been made with outsourcing and it's dangerous.  I can name a couple people I know that have no right to wear the badge.  One of them fortunately was fired, ironically he was in the same academy class with us.  He was recently arrested for domestic battery.   There's no perfect way to screen cops, it's just too easy to fool people.  Look how often serial killers have neighbors taht say "Wow, he was such a nice guy!"

She got jerked over by a guy six or seven years ago and never really recovered.  Sad.

[Charger_Fan]

Damaged goods.

That's gotta suck for a fellow officer to do that...even if you did know there was something wrong with her & kept your distance, it's still gotta suck. At least she didn't have kids (I assume).

[greenpigs]

She looks like a guy I went to high school with.

[Wakko]

No, she had no kids, thankfully.   Originally from Michigan, she's only been down here for about five years.  I really feel bad for the family of the fireman.   

[Shakey]

Being the Devil's advocate - what was he like as a person to her?   

Did he drive her to it?   

I guess we'll never know the true story.

Either way, a sad story.

[bull]

Being the Devil's advocate - what was he like as a person to her?   

Did he drive her to it?   

I guess we'll never know the true story.

Either way, a sad story.

I don't believe you can drive a stable person into murdering someone. If a person is mentally stable they will find a way to get the help they need and/or get away from someone who's trying to drive them crazy. In other words, well-adjusted people know how to deal with or distance themselves from unsafe people. If he was driving her crazy it's her own fault for allowing herself to have a meltdown over it, if that's what happened.

[Wakko]

A witness heard he yelling on the phone about him killing her baby, so there's speculation that she got pregnant and he talked her into an abortion, which she later regretted.  This is pure speculation at this point.  She shot through the glass door and basically executed him.  Seven rounds.   

[dodge freak]

I do agree that grown up people will not kill somebody on purpose unless they are nutty in the first place. 7 shots was no accident, and she was way old enough to know better. I am from Michigan too, have not seen it yet on the news maybe she lived on the other side of the state. As far as her and a baby maybe he want her to have it and was mad that she was not going to have it and was walking out on her. Might have thought she did not really love him, who knows. Its just very sad, they were both young ,I thought she was pertty-the last one on the right. so each to their  own opinion. Seem very happy also.

Would like to know also if she was on any medicine like anti-depressions, I seen that some can cause people to act crazy. There has been a few shottings of co-workers that the shooter was on anti-depression medicine when they flipped out. I laugh the first time I hear about it, but who knows, seen that even sleeping pills can cause problems. It does do something to the mind.

[REDNECK]

She looks like a guy I went to high school with.

man is that appropriate. grow up its no laughing matter

[blackcharger]

a guy I work with went home from work begining of the summer, got drunk, pulled out an assult rifle, and held his GF and her kids hostage, untill the booze got the better of him and the GF's teenage son grabed the rifle and cracked him over the head with it.  Could've ended really bad.

[Wakko]

She looks like a guy I went to high school with.

man is that appropriate. grow up its no laughing matter

Thank you. 

[greenpigs]

She looks like a guy I went to high school with.

man is that appropriate. grow up its no laughing matter

Thank you. 

Thank you for clearing that up redneck & wakko.

[firefighter3931]

I really feel bad for the family of the fireman.   

Ya, no kidding....she walked up to his home and out 7 rounds through the front door into him. This was obviously a premeditated act and i wouldn't consider it a crime of passion. Obviously this woman was damaged goods.....you have to be very hateful to commit such an act under any circumstances.

We've had some issues here locally with female LEO's....suicides, stalking, alcoholism...you name it. I often wonder if policework is really any type of occupation for a woman....sorry if that offends anyone. Perhaps it's the screening process that needs to be tightened up.....the social engineers are so anxious to have women in the (Police) workforce that the standards are reduced to accomodate that demographic. I hear it all the time from my police buddies.

Not many people on this board might know it but i've had several years of work experience in an acute care psychiatric facility and have seen firsthand many of these troubled individuals. Several years back i had to cut down a female  LEO who had hung herself in a washroom on hospital property. Another who had been an inpatient and recently discharged comitted suicide shortly after being released.

My point is not to single out female police officers and i hope it isn't taken that way....there are many male LEO's who have similar issues. I guess my point is that men are better programmed to handle the stresses of the occupation and their ability to cope doesn't seem to be as exteme. Early intervention and treatment is essential. This woman must have exhibited some signs of acute anxiety....surely a friend or co-worker would have been aware. Whoever was privy to her personal life is no doubt feeling a lot of guilt at this point for not intervening and getting her the counselling & treatment she so desperately needed. The outcome is indeed sad because two young lives were lost and two families futures are permenantly altered forever.


Ron

[Wakko]

Ron, it's even worse.  She loosed five rounds through the sliding glass door to gain entry, tossed a few rounds at a friend that was there, hitting him but not killing him, and then drilled her boyfriend the seven times.  Definitely pre-meditated, if only a short time ago.   I've worked with some excellent female cops, but I agree that some women have made it into the blue for the wrong reasons.  Men too, certainly, but many women.  I've worked with a couple females that I would sooner cancel and work alone than have as my "backup".   This girl was actually a good backup, she wasn't afraid of anything.  Now we know why.

[andy74]

sorry to hear it Ian,my prayers are with the families