A deputy sheriff trying to make his way “up the ladder” met the Peter Principle when he tried to hold down his job and also teach at two universities (one of them mine – in my deparment) separated by a 3-hour drive. Somewhere along the way his coping strategies did something that caused an investigation at both the County and City level. He was allowed to tell people he’d resigned from the Sheriff’s office but let’s just say it caused some issues.
Basically he tried to commit suicide by “other” – first he held a gun on his former wife and tried to get her to shoot him. She instead threatened to call 911. He apparently said, “Fine. I’ll kill them then they’ll kill me.” And then tried to strangle her. Again apparently he was interrupted by the kids coming home from school – she regained consciousness with the kids leaning over her. He was locked in the bathroom with a small arsenal. She called 911 and got herself and the kids out of there.
The police showed up. They spent 90 minutes with him swearing he was going to kill people and otherwise trying to get the police to shoot him. He was met with variations on “Come on, Steve. Open the door and let us help you.”
I’m not sure whose suggestion it was, but he called a lawyer on his cell phone. The lawyer showed up, Steve opened the door, handed over his guns, and the lawyer took him to the hospital.
He lost all three of his jobs in the course of this. He’s facing charges for attempting to strangle his former wife. He’s still under investigation for the original issue. All of which he brought on himself and will rightfully have to suffer the consequences.
He is not dead. White privilege. Had he been black we all know what would have happened when the city police showed up.
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