FBI LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN AUGUST 1998

Suicide by Cop
by
Daniel B. Kennedy, Ph.D.
Robert J. Homant, Ph.D.
R. Thomas Hupp, M.S.
Department of Criminal Justice, University of Detroit Mercy

Upon hearing the term “suicide by cop,” the average person would probably think of
police officers who take their own lives. However, to law enforcement officers, this phrase
refers to an individual who wishes to die and uses the police to effect that goal. The following
case serves as an example of this phenomenon.
A terrified woman called police because her ex-boyfriend was breaking into her home.
Upon arrival, police heard screams coming from the basement. They stopped halfway down the
stairs and found the ex-boyfriend pointing a rifle at the floor. Officers observed a strange look
on the subject’s face as he slowly raised the rifle in their direction. Both officers fired their
weapons, killing the suspect. The rifle was not loaded.
Assuming the incident happened as described, suicidal intent by the ex-boyfriend
appeared to be the most reasonable explanation for the shooting. However, critics of police
shootings may consider it far-fetched that the ex-boyfriend would threaten police with an empty
gun. They may speculate that he wanted to surrender, or that “trigger-happy” police merely
assumed the subject might aim the gun at them. Although the term suicide by cop has been
discussed in social-science literature,1 in police training material, and in newspaper accounts of
fatal shootings by police, much remains to be learned.
Questions arise concerning whether a shooting is necessary or avoidable in any police
shooting even when it is attributed to suicide by cop. Analyzing such incidents by considering
possible suicidal motivations would prove beneficial for police training, for police-community
relations, for helping officers deal with postshooting stress, and for determining civil liability.
Previously, administrative reviews of police shootings often focused too narrowly on useof-force issues, in the sense that they tried to determine only if police selected the appropriate
level of force needed to subdue the subject. In many cases, however, it seemed the subject
actively encouraged or challenged the officer to use deadly force. While the truth of such
1

W. Geller and M. Scott, Deadly Force: What We Know, (Washington D.C.: Police Executive
Research Forum, 1992).
FBI LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN AUGUST 1998

 situations can seldom be known with certainty, a more systematic exploration of their frequency
may shed some light on these complex situations. As a result, the authors found a need to further
study the phenomenon of suicide by cop.
OCCASIONS OF SUICIDE BY COP
Police may confront shootings motivated by suicidal subjects more often than reports
indicate. In one case, an adult male drove his car onto the front lawn of police headquarters in
downtown Detroit. He exited his vehicle, took out a handgun, and began shooting at the
building. Several police officers returned fire until they killed the subject.
In another case, Philadelphia police responded to a burglary-in-progress call at a local
school. Upon arrival, the suspect fired twice at the police. A subsequent chase through the
school corridors followed. A police dog eventually cornered the subject, and as the officers
approached, they found the subject crouched and pointing a gun at them. Police fired, killing the
subject. Police later found that the subject’s gun was a starter pistol, incapable of firing live
rounds. Furthermore, family members later identified the subject’s voice on police tapes as the
person who placed the initial burglary call to police. Finally, police learned that the subject had
been hospitalized as the result of a suicide attempt.2
Other occasions exist in which the suicidal intent of a subject is clearly evident, but due
to particularly patient and attentive police work, a shooting does not occur and a death is
avoided. Such an example occurs in the following case.
An officer patrolling a hotel parking lot observed a man pushing a woman onto the floor
of a vehicle. The woman was nude and bloody from the waist down. The officer approached the
vehicle and noticed that the man’s blue jeans were covered with blood. The man began walking
toward the officer yelling profanities along with “Go ahead,...kill me.” As the officer drew his
weapon and pointed it at the subject, he ordered the man to the ground. The subject kept walking
toward him saying, “Kill me, you chicken. Shoot me in the head, kill me...” The officer backed
up, trying to keep a safe distance, as the subject kept putting his hands in his pockets and behind
his back. Backup officers surprised the subject from behind and subsequently subdued him.3
Each of the above cases reasonably implies that the suspects acted in such a manner to ensure
that police officers would shoot them.

2

Richard N. Jenet and Robert J. Segal, “Provoked Shooting by Police as a Mechanism for
Suicide,” The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 6 (March 1985): 274-75.
3
Although the hotel parking lot incident involved an armed uniformed security officer rather
than a sworn police officer, the authors believe that the expressive career felon would have
exhibited the same behavior. Ironically, the subject was eventually sentenced to death for the
murder of the woman’s husband, which had occurred only minutes before the security officer
arrived on the scene.
FBI LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN AUGUST 1998

 HIDDEN SUICIDE
The concept of hidden suicide illustrates the complexities of suicide by cop. Many
deaths appear to result from natural or accidental causes that might better be classified as forms
of suicide. Some researchers have long suspected that many single-occupant car crashes,
especially those that occur under excellent driving conditions, involve suicidal motivations.4
Some researchers also attribute certain airplane crashes,5 parachute fatalities,6 and workplace
fatalities7 to suicidal motivations. Furthermore, several opponents of the death penalty argue
that the existence of capital punishment may induce suicidal people to commit murder in order to
die by execution.8 Similarly, individuals who suddenly experience a homicidal rage may be
described as suicidal because their actions often result in their own deaths.9 This can occur
either at the hands of intended victims who are defending themselves or due to the intervention
of authorities. The ambiguity involved in determining whether a death is suicidal has given rise
to the concept of a psychological autopsy and the investigative specialty of equivocal death
analysis.10
Most relevant to the concept of suicide by cop is the phenomenon known as victimprecipitated homicide. By initiating an assault or otherwise provoking someone, suicide-prone
individuals achieve their goals without losing self-esteem. Furthermore, police officers
frequently have to deal with individuals who display a good deal of impulsivity and selfdestructive behavior.11
CATEGORIZING POLICE SHOOTINGS
In any modern democracy, the use of force by law enforcement officers is subject to a
great deal of scrutiny. Even so, the lack of an effective centralized reporting system and other
4

See, for example, M. Selzer and C. Payne, “Automobile Accident, Suicide and Unconscious
Motivation, American Journal of Psychiatry 119 (1962): 237-240.
5
D. Phillips, “Airplane Accident Fatalities Increase Just After Newspaper Stories About Murder
and Suicide,” Science, 201 1978, 748-750.
6
D. Lester, Questions and Answers About Suicide (Philadelphia: Charles Press, 1989).
7
J. Kinney, Preventing Violence at Work (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1995).
8
K. Wormer, “Execution-Inspired Murder: A Form of Suicide?” Journal of Offender
Rehabilitation 22 (1995): 1-10.
9
D. Lester, The Death Penalty (Springfield, IL: Walter C. Thomas, 1987).
10
For autoerotic asphyxiation, see R. Hazelwood, P. Dietz, and A. Burgess, “Sexual Fatalities:
Behavioral Reconstruction in Equivocal Cases,” Journal of Forensic Sciences 27 (1982): 763773. For a discussion of equivocal death analysis in general and the problems of psychological
autopsies, see N. Poythress et al., “APA’s Expert Panel in the Congressional Review of the USS
Iowa Incident,” American Psychologist 48 (1993): 8-15.
11
G. Gabbard, Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders, vols 1-2, 2nd ed., (Washington, DC,
American Psychiatric Press, 1995). W. Wilbanks, “Fatal Accidents, Suicide and Homicide: Are
They Related?” Victimology, 7 (1982): 213-217; and C. Williams, J. Davidson, and I.
Montgomery, “Impulsive Suicidal Behavior,” Journal of Clinical Psychology, 36 (1980): 90-94.
FBI LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN AUGUST 1998

 methodological problems have left researchers unable to determine the exact number of
justifiable homicides by police each year.

“Police may confront shootings motivated by suicidal subjects more
often than reports indicate.”
In 1989, the FBI began to track the number of justifiable homicides by police. The
average per year from 1988 to 1993 was 389.12 While data prior to 1988 are more problematic,
experts generally agree that a significant reduction in the use of deadly force by police officers
has occurred. Whether as a result of increased professionalism, more restrictive policies, or civil
litigation, police officers exercise far more restraint than in the past. Nevertheless, police use of
force remains the subject of intense national scrutiny.
DETERMINING SUICIDAL MOTIVATION
The authors conducted research to determine whether suicide by cop constitutes some
meaningful percentage of police shootings. Additionally, the authors attempted to determine
whether any particular circumstances distinguished suicide by cop from other police shootings.
In order to obtain a representative sample of police shootings, the authors reviewed an electronic
library containing full-text newspaper articles to obtain a broad sample of accounts of police
shootings in which potential cases of suicide by cop could be found. The electronic library
contained the full text from 22 newspapers, representing 18 metropolitan areas. A keyword
search using the words “police,” “shoot,” and “citizen” produced 887 articles from January 1980
through June 1995. By eliminating duplicates and those articles that did not specifically describe
a police shooting incident, the authors found 240 articles suitable for analysis.
Two experienced police officers with master’s degrees in criminal justice rated the 240
incidents independently of each other. They catalogued the 240 incidents into one of five
categories. Most of their ratings closely agreed. In fact, in 74 percent of the cases, there ratings
were exactly the same.
Although no way exists to prove that a particular incident definitely involved suicidal
impulse, these five categories and the news stories that represent the cases help to illustrate the
validity of the rating process.
1) Probable Suicide: The subjects show clear suicidal motivation, either by word
or gesture or they confront the police with a dangerous weapon despite having no
way to escape, virtually forcing the officers to shoot.
This category illustrates itself in the case of a Philadelphia man who brandished a gun
and threatened to take his own life inside a police department. When officers tried to convince

12

A. Karmen, Crime Victims, 3d ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1996), 12-17.

FBI LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN AUGUST 1998

 the man to drop the gun, he started saying, “Shoot me, shoot me.” A police officer shot him after
the subject barricaded himself and pointed his gun at the officer.13
2) Possible Suicide: Subjects appear disturbed or otherwise act as if they do not
care whether officers kill them: they may make a futile or hopeless escape
attempt.14
The following case depicts this category. A man had an argument with his mother and
sister, and they threw him out of the house. Five hours later he got into a confrontation with
Ocoee, Florida, police. Offices first found the 33-year-old construction worker sleeping in his
car. The subject ignored orders to exit the vehicle.
As an officer radioed for backup, the man climbed into the driver’s seat, started the car,
and accelerated directly toward another officer. The subject ran over one officer’s foot, then
accelerated toward a second officer. The police shot and killed the subject.
3) Uncertain: Too little contradictory information is given. Subjects may or may
not have had some suicidal motivation. This category could be represented by a
robbery suspect who gets shot after turning toward police officers with a
weapon. 15

Some researchers have long suspected that many single-occupant car
crashes, especially those that occur under excellent driving
conditions, involve suicidal motivations.
4) Suicide Improbable: Subject’s behavior gives no overt indication of suicidal or
self-destructive intent, and the behavior can easily be accounted for without
assuming such motivation. The possibility of underlying suicidal intent cannot be
ruled out.
This concept presents itself in the shooting death of a man taking part in a drug deal
foiled by police. When the police confronted the group of men, one pulled a pistol and aimed at
the officers, forcing the officers to fire.16
5) No Suicidal Evidence: Subjects clearly attempt to avoid being shot. If the
situation involves an attempt to flee, a reasonable hope of success should
appear.17

13

“Lee Brown’s Sermon: Cops, Citizens Unite,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 9, 1994, sec. B
20.
14
Lauren Ritchie and Karen Samsock, “Ocoee Police Kill Driver Who Chased Them with Car”
Orlando Sentinel, November 15, 1989, sec. D 1.
15
Mitch Gelman, Untitled, New York Newsday, February 5, 1990, sec. News, p. 7.
16
“Killed in Gun Battle,” Philadelphia Daily News, December 17, 1993, sec. Local, p. 12.
FBI LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN AUGUST 1998

 In one incident, the police shot a man in the leg after he pulled a knife and tried to drag
an officer from an unmarked police car. While struggling with the robber, the officer managed
to draw and fire his weapon. The police spokesman described the shooting as straightforward;
the person robbing the officer was armed with a knife.18
Suicidal Motivation in 240 Police Shooting Incidents
CATEGORY
Probable Suicide
Possible Suicide
Indeterminate
Suicidal Motive Unlikely
No Suicidal Motive

FREQUENCY
9
28
160
22
21

PERCENT*
4
12
67
9
9

*The total percent does not equal 100 due to rounding.

ANALYSIS OF INCIDENTS
Demographics
The news articles occasionally included demographics for the civilians involved. The
person was typically male (97 percent) and between the ages of 16 and 35 (68 percent).
Homelessness or mental illness was identified in 14 cases (5 percent). In addition, the incidents
usually involved uniformed, on-duty police officers. Occasionally, off-duty officers (13 percent)
and plainclothes officers (12 percent) were involved. Additionally, a few cases involved
narcotics officers, SWAT team members, members of special surveillance teams, detectives, and
some special task force officers.
Suicidal Motivation
The authors found evidence of probable or possible suicidal motivation in 16 percent of
the 240 incidents. They classified the vast majority of the incidents as indeterminate, due to the
lack of pertinent information in the news articles and a lack of follow-up articles. It is uncertain
how many of these indeterminate articles might have indicated suicidal motivation if the articles
had provided more details. Of the 80 incidents that provided enough detail to classify, a
surprisingly large 46 percent contained some evidence of probable or possible suicidal
motivation.
17

The concept of a “reasonable hope of success” is problematic. With adrenalin flowing, a
shootout with police at long odds may seem reasonable, especially to avoid life imprisonment or
a possible death sentence. Nevertheless, the fact that raters can agree indicates, at least, that
these categories can be applied consistently.
18
The Miami Herald staff, “Miami Robber Picks Undercover Cop, Police Say,” Miami Herald,
July 24, 1991, sec. 2B.
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 The researchers used three variables to assess each of the 240 incidents. Those three
variables included: lethality, circumstances, and precipitating events.
Lethality
With regard to lethality, 69 percent resulted in fatalities, 17 percent proved nonfatal, and
in 14 percent of the cases, the outcome was unclear.19 Nonfatalities showed less suicidal
motivation, but more evidence is needed to confirm this.
Circumstances
In categorizing the 240 incidents according to the crime category or reason for the
officer’s intervention, at least 34 types of situations occurred. Some examples of those situations
include impounding an animal, investigating a prowler, responding to complaints about loud
music, and responding to an armed robbery–the single most common category.
As expected, researchers found a slight trend for suicidal incidents to involve the cluster
of a general disturbance, domestic disturbance, and person with a weapon calls. A high number
of suicidal incidents, however, also stemmed from armed robberies, and many of the nonsuicidal
shootings began with traffic stops. Speculation holds that armed robbery often signifies a
desperate crime in which offenders, while much preferring to get away, would rather be killed
than captured.
Precipitating Event
Researchers identified numerous different reasons why police officers fired their
weapons. Pointing or firing a gun at an officer represented the most common precipitating event
by far. A cluster of events that can be construed as challenging the officer (e.g., pointing a gun
at the officer, firing at the officer, reaching for a weapon, etc.) accounted for 89 percent of the
suicide by cop incidents, compared to only 49 percent of the nonsuicidal incidents. The
nonsuicidal incidents were more likely to involve accidental or vague circumstances.
Cross-Validation Study
The authors conducted a follow-up study because of the vague initial finding that suicidal
motivation could be implicated in anywhere from 16 to 46 percent of the incidents. The new
sample of incidents, taken from the Detroit Free Press files from 1992 to 1993, produced 33
usable incidents. Once again, the authors classified many of the incidents (42 percent) as
indeterminate; of the 19 incidents with sufficient detail, the authors classified 9 (47 percent) as
having possible suicidal motivation. Although this still leaves the range of possible suicidal
incidents vague, it does support the conclusion that suicide by cop is not a rare occurrence.

19

The “unclear” category was often the result of the actual outcome being indeterminate at the
time the story was written.
FBI LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN AUGUST 1998

 Discussion
Perhaps the difficulty of identifying and dealing with suicide by cop is best illustrated by
two incidents found in the cross-validation study, neither of which qualified as police shootings.
In one incident, a man fired a shotgun inside a home, wounding three people, and killing a twoyear old girl. When confronted behind the home by officers, the man shouted, “I’m sorry! I’m
sorry! Don’t shoot me! I’m gonna shoot myself...,” after which the man fired into his chest.20
The second case involved a 17-year old youth with no criminal record who was chased
by police one night when he failed to pay for gas. He managed to elude police but later killed
himself with one of many handguns found in his possession.21
One of these cases stemmed from a very serious incident; the other, from a comparatively
trivial one. Both resulted in actual suicides but could have easily resulted in suicides by cop or
in the killing of police officers. In both cases, the suicide made the subjects’ intentions obvious.
Had the incidents resulted in shootings by the police, the evidence of the subjects’ suicidal intent
may or may not have been detectable.
Although other methodological issues could be taken into consideration, the study
establishes suicidal motivation as a significant factor in many police shootings. The percentage
of nationally reported police shootings involving probable or possible suicidal motivation ranges
between 16 and 46 percent, and the cross-validation study found a similar range of 27 to 47
percent. These results indicate that this phenomenon warrants more careful study. At least four
repercussions may develop as policy makers and citizens realize that the cause for many shooting
deaths may arise more from a death wish on the part of the subject than from the officer’s
discretion in a shoot/don’t shoot situation.
First, obvious implications exist for police-community relations. Citizens remain
concerned about police use of deadly force, and citizens’ altitudes play a key role in determining
police effectiveness. The extent to which police shootings may be victim precipitated
constitutes a variable that merits inclusion in the shaping of those attitudes.
A second important issue concerns dealing with police stress. While the concept of
critical incidents for police now covers a broad spectrum, postshooting stress remains a major
problem for many officers. The fatal shooting of a suicidal person, who perhaps has a mental
illness, may be more or less stressful than the shooting of a dangerous felon. An awareness of
this type of shooting situation remains critical for officers and police psychologists to understand
more about the frequency and circumstances of suicide by cop.
A third implication involves civil litigation instigated against police officers for use of
force in wrongful death actions. Admittedly, for police to say that a civilian engaged in suicide
by cop may sound like a self-serving attempt to excuse the shooting, or at least to divert any
20

Jim Schaefer, “Gunman Kills Toddler, Hurts Four, Then Shoots Self,” Detroit Free Press,
March 24, 1992, sec. 3A.
21
“Youth Stuck Up for His Friends,” Detroit Free Press, May 4, 1992, sec. 2B.
FBI LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN AUGUST 1998

 negative community backlash. Yet, even an unambiguous case of suicide by cop does not
necessarily exonerate the officer involved; officers still must make reasonable attempts to avoid
having to use deadly force. An understanding of the dynamics of suicide by cop may help juries
determine the practicality of alternative actions officers may be expected to take.
Finally, an appreciation of the extent of suicide by cop may have widespread training
implications. Officers who recognize the suicidal intentions often motivating the actions of
disturbed persons may use a different approach in those calls involving domestic violence
offenders and barricaded subjects, as well as a variety of other calls that involve police-citizen
encounters. At the academy level, instructors devote only about 9 percent of basic training time
to interpersonal skills.22 The percentage of time allotted to such training may need increasing or
readjusting to deal appropriately with the suicide-by-cop phenomenon.
CONCLUSION
Police officers often have suspected that many police shootings are the ultimate result of
suicidal intentions on the part of the suspects themselves. Whether explained as a form of
victim- precipitated homicide, a consequence of impulsivity, or a result of various personality
disorders, more must be learned about the phenomenon of suicide by cop. The results reported
here suggest that the phenomenon plays a significant factor in police shootings.
Further research into this topic could have a significant impact on police-community
relations by illustrating the role of many shooting suspects in causing their own deaths. Police
officers themselves could better adjust to the trauma of shootings by gaining an appreciation of
the suicidal nature of many subjects. The ability to curb litigation also would occur as juries
more appropriately assess the culpability of all parties to a shooting. Finally, management could
adjust police training and tactical operations to more appropriately respond to the phenomenon
of suicide by cop.
In an ideal world, no police officer would ever have to shoot a suspect; peaceful resolution
would occur. Yet, every day, officers become involved in dangerous situations where this does
not hold true. Properly trained officers who understand the motivations of subjects with suicidal
impulses and know how to deal with them will be better prepared to avert these tragedies.

22

R. Langworthy, et al., Law Enforcement Recruitment, Selection and Training: A Survey of
Major Police Departments in the U. S. (Highland Heights, KY: ACJS, 1995: 15).
FBI LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN AUGUST 1998