Jeremy Richman, 49, lost his 6-year-old daughter Avielle in the 2012 attack.
The father of one of the victims killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was found dead early Monday of an apparent suicide.
Jeremy Richman, 49, quit his job as a researcher after the massacre to work full time for the Avielle Foundation, named in memory of his 6-year-old daughter Avielle, who was one of the 20 first-graders killed by Adam Lanza on Dec. 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut. Six staffers were also killed.
Richman was found dead at Edmond Town Hall in Newtown around 7 a.m. Monday following a report of a suicide, police said. An autopsy is being carried out.
“This is a heartbreaking event for the Richman family and the Newtown Community as a whole, the police department’s prayers are with the Richman family right now, and we ask that the family be given privacy in this most difficult time,” said Lt. Aaron Bahamonde of the Newtown Police Department.
His death comes after reports that two Majory Stoneman Douglas High School students took their lives in separate incidents, a little over a year after a gunman opened fire there, killing 17 people.
On Friday, it was reported that 19-year-old MSD graduate Sydney Aiello took her own life. Her mother, Cara Aiello, told local CBS station WFOR-TV that her daughter had struggled to cope in the wake of the shooting in Parkland, Florida, and suffered from survivor's guilt.
On Saturday, a current student at the school reportedly took their own life. Police are still investigating the student's death.
If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255. Or chat online at www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
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