Newtown's father, Jeremy Richman, dies from apparent suicide: NPR

The father of a girl from Newtown, Connecticut, who was killed during the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, has committed suicide. Newtown police said Jeremy Richman, 49, was found dead Monday morning, not far from his office.

"This is a heartbreaking event for the Richman family and the community of Newtown as a whole, the prayers of the police service are addressed to the Richman family at this time, and we ask that the privacy of the family be preserved," said Lieutenant Aaron. Bahamonde.

In 2012, Richman's daughter Avielle was one of 26 children and educators killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Only a few months after Avielle's death, then their only son, Richman and his wife, Jennifer Hensel, co-founded the Avielle Foundation to support neuroscience research to shed light on "what drives somebody". one to adopt a harmful behavior "in the hope of" bridges between biochemical sciences and behavioral sciences ", according to the foundation. Richman's dream was "a paradigm shift in the way society views brain health". As he explained to NPR in 2017, he wanted people to see the brain as "another organ that can be healthy or unhealthy, just like heart disease, cancer or diabetes."

"Just as resources have been devoted to landing a man on the moon and exploring outer space," Richman said. "We must invest in the exploration of our interior space".

In a statement published by the Avielle Foundation, one could read: "Tragically, [Richman’s] Death shows how brain health can be an insidious and daunting challenge, and how essential it is for all of us to seek help for ourselves, our loved ones, and all the individuals we suspect of. They might be in need. "

Richman spoke openly and often about the depth of his grief. Like his wife, Hensel, told NPR in 2017: "You have to be careful about that, otherwise it will surprise you. You have to take care of it."

Richman deliberately spoke with excruciating details of both pain and pain.

"I want people to hear the reality," he said. "I want people to know that [the victims] were brutally blown with a big rifle "and how pain made him feel like he was" spun from the planet. "Make people feel the magnitude of the horror instead of turning away, he hoped, would motivate them to make arrangements.

In the years following Sandy Hook, the new constant of subsequent shootings was in the form of blows to the body. At first, "we just want to scream, it would hit us so hard," said Richman. But over the years and shooting continued, he said, their anger increased.

"I have the impression that this is happening – there are things that we could do that are not done," he said.

The Avielle Foundation said: "Jeremy's mission will be carried out by those who love him, including those who share the grief and trauma he has suffered since December 14, 2012. We are crushed but this important work will continue because, as Jeremy would say, we must do it. "

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy tweeted that Richman was a "good friend and incessant defender":

The news of Richman's death follows two other alleged suicide deaths of two students who survived the shooting in Parkland, Florida. Sydney Aiello, 19, was 17 years old when an armed man killed 17 others at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. diagnosed with PTSD and suffered from the survivor's guilt, according to her family. The police did not reveal the name of another student, who also committed suicide over the weekend.