The father of a 6-year-old girl who was killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was found dead by apparent suicide Monday. Jeremy Richman was a neuroscientist who, after the death of his daughter Avielle, devoted his life to finding solutions to brain abnormalities that lead to violence. He founded the Avielle Foundation to support brain science research, with the ultimate goal of preventing violence and building compassion.
Richman’s death follows two apparent suicides in the last week by survivors of the Parkland massacre. An unnamed student who survived last year’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School died by suicide Saturday, and 19-year-old Sydney Aiello, a former student and survivor from Parkland, died the previous weekend. Aiello suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt, according to her mother. We’ll have more on preventing suicide with Columbia University professor Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber later in the broadcast.
You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or 1-800-273-TALK.