Chicago Police Officer Found Dead Inside Residence: Chicago PD

CHICAGO — An investigation has been launched into the death of a Chicago Police officer who was found dead inside his home in the city’s 1st Police District Friday morning, CPD officials confirmed.

The officer, who has not been identified by police, is an active member of CPD's 5th District, police officials said in an email to Patch. The 1st District includes the Loop and South Loop.

“Please keep this officer’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” police officials said in a statement on Friday.

No further details have been released.

Michael Carroll, a long-time Chicago police officer and spokesman for the department, wrote on Twitter that it is believed the officer took his own life.

"Its (sic) extremely difficult hearing news like this over and over again," Carroll tweeted. "The pressure of the job is more than regular people know and cops need to be better at letting others know that they need help, need a hand, they need to talk."

The death comes two weeks after a Chicago police officer was found dead in what officials said was an apparent suicide on July 2.

The Cook County Medical Examiner identified the officer as 29-year-old Patricia Swank.

"All we can hope is that our sister found the peace she was looking for and is no longer suffering in the darkness she felt she couldn't escape," the CPD pipe band organization said in the post after the officer's death.

At least five Chicago police officers have taken their own lives in the past 16 months. A 2017 report from the U.S. Department of Justice found CPD's suicide rate to be 60 percent higher than the national average for police officers.