A rash of inexplicable suicides

From Family of Ashli Babbitt Files $30 Million Wrongful Death Action by Jonathan Turley.  On January 6th, 2020, there was a single violent death during the Capitol Hill riots and that was when the Capitol Police shot and killed US Air Force veteran Ashley Babbitt,.

Mainstream media have all along sought to create an impression that the crowd was lethally violent and multiple government employees were killed by rioters.  That simply was not the case.  No government employees were killed.  Over the months and years, it gets tangled tracking the untruths and their final resolution and Turley provides a useful update.  

Byrd was the Capitol Police Officer who shot and killed Babbitt.

Of all of the lines from Byrd, this one stands out: “I could not fully see her hands or what was in the backpack or what the intentions are.” So, Byrd admitted he did not see a weapon or an immediate threat from Babbitt beyond her trying to enter through the window. Nevertheless, Byrd boasted, “I know that day I saved countless lives.” He ignored that Babbitt was the one person killed during the riot. (Two protesters died of natural causes and a third from an amphetamine overdose; one police officer died the next day from natural causes, and four officers have committed suicide since then.) No other officers facing similar threats shot anyone in any other part of the Capitol, even those who were attacked by rioters armed with clubs or other objects.

Turley does not address one of the minor mysteries of that day.  The number of Capitol Police officers who have committed suicide.  Four sounds strangely high to.

I am not disputing that they committed suicide, merely observing that that seems like a high number.  Particularly were you to translate into a rate.  I think one officer committed suicide the next day.  I have a vague recollection of another within a few weeks.  I don't know about the remaining two.

Since police officers are also frequently military veterans and military veterans have a 50% or so higher suicide rate than the norm, perhaps the riot was triggering of some underlying trauma or PTSD.

But I have always been curious about the four deaths.  Is there a bump in police suicides after big riots, such as after George Floyd?  If not, what was there about the Capitol riot that made it different.  

I am guessing it is a mystery not likely to be solved but it seems exceeding curious.