sooooooo, ONLY police should have guns , huh?

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Officer takes own life at station

Date: Nov 23, 2008 11:31 AM

PUBLICATION: The Belleville Intelligencer

DATE: 2008.11.20

EDITION: Final

SECTION: Local News

PAGE: 1

BYLINE: W. BRICE MCVICAR, THE INTELLIGENCER

WORD COUNT: 81

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Officer takes own life at station Police: Cause of death ‘appears to be a self-inflicted

gun shot wound’

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A post mortem is scheduled to take place today on the body of a 20-year veteran

of the Belleville police force after his body was discovered at the police station

Wednesday.

Const. Mike Eby, 51, was found dead in a second-floor office at the Dundas Street

East police station Wednesday morning. The cause of death, police said, “appears

to be a self-inflicted gun shot wound.”

During a press conference held at the station, acting police Chief Brian Harder

said a co-worker discovered Const. Eby’s body.

“Although the investigation is ongoing, no other officers or civilians or members

of the public were involved in the incident,” Harder said. “The weapon

was his own service revolver.”

The Special Investigations Unit — which enters into investigations in which a civilian

or a police officer is injured or killed — has been contacted but has chosen not

to investigate the case, said Harder.

Det. Insp. Mike Graham, head of the Criminal Investigation Division, will lead the

investigation.

Harder spoke fondly of Const. Eby, noting he had joined the force in February 1988.

Prior to his career in law enforcement, Const. Eby had worked in the retail restaurant

industry, Harder said.

“Mike was a valued member of our service. He worked in a number of divisions

in his career. In uniform he was an acting sergeant, a coach officer, he was a breathalyzer

officer for over 10 years, he worked in criminal investigations and, most recently,

was one of our crime analysts,” Harder said.

Det. Peter Goulah, president of the Belleville Police Association, said Const. Eby

had just recently joined the association’s board. A strong supporter of the

association, Const. Eby had great passion for police work, Goulah said.

Goulah said Const. Eby, a respected police officer, was devoted to his wife, Tina,

and his two children.

“Mike was a good family man,” Goulah said. “He loved his family.

He loved doing his job and he loved police work.”

Harder said there will be tough times over the next few weeks for officers and civilian

employees. Two grief counsellors are scheduled to visit the police station today.

The suicide, he said, is the first to occur at the Belleville police headquarters.

“We’ve never had this happen in our city,” he said. “It’s

a very rare occurrence, for sure. I guess it’s just based on the amount of investigations

and things we see, we naturally think we are immune to this sort of thing. That’s

not the case, obviously.” Funeral arrangements had not been made as of Wednesday.

The Second Amendment IS Homeland Security !