New York City Family Court Officer Commits Suicide in Courtroom Bathroom

A 50-year-old New York County court officer apparently committed suicide Monday afternoon inside Manhattan’s New York County Family Court building, according to the New York Post’s reporting.

A tweet from the New York State Court Officers Association (NYSCOA) late Tuesday corroborated the death of one of its members.

“The NYSCOA is devastated by the passing of one of our members,” the tweet said. “We ask everyone to keep his brother and sister officers from Manhattan Family Court in your thoughts. We continue to pray for his family that they can find peace.”

The Post reported that the unidentified court officer asked a fellow officer to watch his post while he took a break, and shortly after leaving his post, the officer walked into the bathroom and shot himself in the head. The officer, one of three brothers who are all court officers, died at the scene.

NYSCOA president Dennis Quirk told the Post that the officer had over 15 years of experience.

“It’s just a tragedy. The union delegate was with him this morning. No problem, he was happy as could be and went into the bathroom and did it,” Quirk told the Post. Coffee or Die Magazine left a message requesting further information on the incident with the NYSCOA but did not hear back by the time of publication.

0 Shares

Joshua Skovlund

Staff writer

Joshua is a staff writer for Coffee or Die Magazine. He has covered the 75th anniversary of D-Day in France, multinational military exercises in Germany, and civil unrest during the 2020 riots in Minneapolis that followed the death of George Floyd. Born and raised in small-town South Dakota, Joshua grew up playing football and soccer before serving as a forward observer in the US Army. After leaving the service, he earned his CrossFit Level 1 certificate and worked as a personal trainer while earning his paramedic license. Joshua went on to work in paramedicine for more than five years, much of that time in the North Minneapolis area, before transitioning to a career in multimedia journalism. Joshua is married, has two children, and is currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism. His creative outlets include Skovlund Photography and Concentrated Emotion, which is where he publishes poetry focused on his life experiences.