Lt. Cmdr. Russell Cruz, Naval Career officer died of a self inflicted gunshot wound after barricading himself in hotel
Lt. Cmdr. Russell Cruz, shot himself in a Honolulu hotel–Kahala Hotel & Resort–according to a Navy release.
The career Naval officer had enlisted in the Navy about a month after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
About 100 people were gathered into a ballroom for hours while Cruz remained barricaded in a fourth-floor room. Police said Cruz fired through the door multiple times but no one was injured.
The center he was assigned to provides operational support for Pearl Harbor homeported submarines, their crews, families and staff of Submarine Squadrons One and Seven, Navytimes reported, adding:
“Every member of our Navy team is important; this is a painful time for our local community and the U.S. Navy,” Cmdr. Cindy Fields, a spokeswoman for the said.
Lt. Cmdr. Russell Cruz, 40, died from “an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound” the Navy said in a press release as civil beat reports below. The Navy said the Honolulu Police Department was the investigating agency.
Cruz had barricaded himself in a room at the resort Saturday night and allegedly fired at the door. He was found dead when police entered the room early Sunday.
In CY 2019, there were 498 Service members who died by suicide according to DOD. Active duty suicides are at an all time high.
377 active duty service members committed suicide in 2020, up from 348 in 2019.
The average number of Veteran suicides per day was 17.6 in 2018. 2020 shows similar results with full reporting statistics not complete.