A 40-year-old policeman committed suicide around 14:00 on Monday with his service weapon in the parking lot of the Annecy police station, according to concordant sources, apparently not for professional reasons. According to a count of AFP, this peacekeeper is the 37th policeman to commit suicide since the beginning of the year. He killed himself in his own car, just before taking service with the Crime Squad.
The prefecture has set up an emergency medical-psychological support cell, which doubles as a support cell of the Ministry of the Interior, said the prosecutor of the Republic of Annecy, Véronique Denizot. This support will concern in particular eight colleagues of the police officer, who have been most in touch with the facts, said the firefighters. The investigation into the causes of death has been entrusted to the Judicial Police (PJ) and the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), said Véronique Denizot.
"Nothing hinted at his gesture"
According to the prosecutor, his colleagues were all the more shocked that the policeman "said nothing to anyone, and that there was no sign of his gesture". It was a person "very appreciated, very cheerful, it's a terrible human drama, especially for colleagues who have really lost someone from their family," added the magistrate.
The first elements guide the investigation towards a gesture related to the emotional rather than the professional life of the police officer. "But how does this police profession not weaken those who exercise it?" wondered Veronique Denizot.