4 LASD Employees Took Their Lives Within 24 Hours
Los Angeles: LA authorities have identified a man who died from the self-inflicted injuries. The man was an employee at the Sheriff’s Department.
This is the 4th case of death from self-inflicted injury in the same department. The police are now investigating the cause that led to 4 people claiming their lives.
On November 7, the bodies of four members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department—three of them active and one retired—were discovered within a day of each other.
Arturo Atilano Valdez, 49, was the last and 4th employee who claimed his life, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Public records state that Valdez shot himself in the head. He died at Pomona Hospital. The cause of the death is suicide as per the records. Valdez took his life weeks before his 50th birthday.
According to reports, Cmdr. Darren Harris shot himself in the head at his Santa Clarita home at approximately 10:30 a.m.
In the second incident, retired LASD officer Greg Hovland was found dead in his home. The deceased was a seasoned sergeant in the Antelope Valley. The incident happened on Monday at his Quartz Hill house.
A gunshot wound to the chest claimed the life of the third employee, Corina Thompson, aged 59.
According to a source, Valdez and Thompson used to work in custody at the North County Correctional Facility. The facility boasts the maximum-security section of the Pitchess jail.
Additionally, the sheriff’s office announced that its peer support program and counseling services are available to department employees 24/7. Additionally, support services are provided to the families of the deceased employees.
