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Widow blames department for police sergeant's suicide
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BPD comes under fire in Sergeant's death
The widow of Burbank Police Sergeant Neil Thomas Gunn Sr. has spoken out, and she is laying the blame for her husband’s death squarely at the feet of the Burbank Police Department. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, Tina Gunn, an employee of the City of Burbank, said: “They had everything to do with what happened…My husband felt that no matter what he did, he was going to be the fall guy because he was the one who spoke out.”
Sgt. Gunn was expected to testify on behalf of five officers who are suing the Burbank Police Department for alleged discrimination and retaliation. On October 1st, however, the FBI confirmed that it was investigating possible civil rights violations by 12 current and former Burbank police officers. Sgt. Gunn and at least three of the officers who had filed suit against the department were named in the FBI subpoena, which sought personnel records that referenced “use of force, defensive tactics, Tasers, pepper spray, or the rules and ramifications pertaining to the use of excessive force or a violation of civil/constitutional rights.”
On October 29th, Sgt. Gunn drove to a hillside neighborhood near De Bell Golf Course, parked his car, and shot himself in the chest at the corner of Sunset Canyon and Harvard Road. He was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 50 years old.
The day after his suicide, a memorial was set up outside the police department with candles forming Gunn’s badge number, 7943. On Tuesday a candlelight vigil was held outside City Hall, where Gunn’s brother-in-law, Chris Topolovich, a former Burbank police officer himself, tearfully stated: “He gave up his family -- left his family -- to shine a bright light on a big problem in Burbank, and nobody will listen.” Inside at the City Council meeting, Councilman David Gordon received applause from a room filled with officers and friends of the Gunn family when he called for Police Chief Tim Stehr to be placed on administrative leave, but fellow Councilman Dave Golonski accused Gordon of “grandstanding” and no action was taken against the chief.
Sgt. Gunn was laid to rest on Thursday in Porter Ranch. In addition to his wife and brother-in-law, he is survived by six grandchildren, three children -- including Neil Gunn Jr., a Burbank police officer -- and Tina Gunn’s steadfast assertion of her husband’s innocence and the city’s guilt. “They were trying to portray my husband as something he was not,” she said. “He was a good man. He was beyond clean. The department turned its back on him.”
For more info:
Read the Los Angeles Times article
Read the official Burbank Police Department statement on Sgt. Gunn’s death
Read the Burbank Leader article on Sgt. Gunn’s funeral
Watch a video from ABC News below
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