MASON, Ohio — The Warren County prosecutor ruled an officer was justified in shooting and killing a River City Correctional Center inmate after a 12-hour standoff in July.
Prosecutor David Fornshell called Thomas Cromwell's death a case of 'suicide by cop.' Fornshell said Cromwell told negotiators they would have to kill him to save the woman he was holding at knifepoint inside a Mason hotel room, saying he was going to "go out in a glorious death."
The statistics for suicide by cop can be difficult to track. However, the impact it has on those involved can affect them for the rest of their lives.
The U.S. Justice Department considers suicide by cop a term used by police officers when someone is intentionally trying to kill themselves by forcing police to use deadly force.
"Nobody can train for the aftermath of it," said Dan Hils, president of the Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police. "It's a scary situation when somebody is going to put a police officer, another human being in a position where they have to use deadly force to make sure they survive and make sure they get home — in other words, use that police officer ... as a vehicle to end their own life."
The independent research organization Police Executive Research Forum found between 2015 and 2018 there was an average of 900-1,000 shootings where an officer pulled the trigger in the U.S. Out of those shootings, 10-29% — and sometimes more — were considered "suicide by cop," which accounts for 100 or more shootings every year.
"I can tell you that sometimes officers can get right back in the game, and other times officers look for other duties for quite some time afterwards, they are not ready to return to the streets," said Hils.
Suicide by cop also has lasting impacts on the families of those who died.
"My son had severe mental problems, severe, he called them demons," said Traci Gaines, during an interview with WCPO I-Team chief investigative reporter Craig Cheatum. "He heard voices in his head, he had a drug problem, so if he's not getting help for the voices in his head, his solution is to self-medicate."
Hils said Cincinnati police have a system in place where officers can get counseling and talk about any problems they're having. He said because of the very nature of who they are, it can be difficult for officers to open up about anything that's troubling them. Nonetheless, there is help out there for them.
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