Police Department Bids Farewell to Fallen Cop

Police Constable Edwardo Gonzalez was laid to rest this afternoon in Santa Elena, after taking his own life with a firearm while on duty last Wednesday.  Gonzalez was stationed at the Queen Street Precinct on an overnight shift on May twenty-fifth, when he suddenly shot himself in the presence of his colleagues.  The young officer inflicted a single gunshot wound to his head and despite being rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital succumbed to the injury approximately an hour later.  Today, fellow law enforcement officers from the police department, as well as the Belize Defense Force, mourned their squad brother, flying the police flag at half-mast.  Following a funeral ceremony in San Ignacio this afternoon, Gonzalez was interred at the cemetery in Santa Elena.  His untimely death has brought into sharp focus the issue of suicide within the police department.  He was the second officer within a week to have either taken or attempted to take his own life, prompting the department to look closely at the situation.