Sandy Hook Victim’s Father Dies in Apparent Suicide in Newtown
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In the more than six years since his daughter Avielle was killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Jeremy Richman had devoted his life to preventing families from experiencing the kind of tragic loss he did.
With his wife, Jennifer Hensel, he created the Avielle Foundation to support research into brain abnormalities that could be linked to violent behavior. In this endeavor, he stressed mental health education and compassion.
“Compassion is the ability to feel somebody else’s suffering, to empathize,” Mr. Richman, a neuroscientist, said in a video for the foundation. “But most importantly, it’s the hope that you can do something to alleviate that suffering.”
On Monday, Mr. Richman, 49, was found dead in an apparent suicide in the Newtown, Conn., building where the Avielle Foundation had an office, the local police said. His death was all the more shocking given the scope of his work, community members said.
The police were called to Edmond Town Hall, a movie theater and event space that also rented offices and meeting rooms, at about 7 a.m. on Monday by contractors who were working there, said Lt. Aaron Bahamonde of the Newtown Police Department.
Upon arriving, the police also found a note left by Mr. Richman. Lieutenant Bahamonde did not disclose what it said.
The police and the state’s medical examiner’s office were investigating the death, he said.
Mr. Richman’s death came more than six years after a gunman stormed Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing Avielle, 6, and 25 other people, before turning the gun on himself.
Some of the police officers who reported to Edmond Town Hall on Monday had responded to the school shooting, Lieutenant Bahamonde said.
In Newtown, school district administrators reached out to counselors, psychologists and social workers early Monday, alerting them to Mr. Richman’s death so they could prepare to help students and staff members grieve, according to the Newtown school superintendent, Lorrie Rodrigue.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Richman is survived by two children, Imogen and Owen.
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“Self Acceptance is a process not a performance”
“You are autistic enough. And you always have been”
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.