Bi-polar woman, 20, kills herself inside police car with the cop's own GUN on her way to the hospital



A mentally ill Missouri woman committed suicide by shooting herself in the head with a police officer’s gun while getting a ride to a local hospital in a squad car on Wednesday.

The St. Louis County Police Department said Stephanie Hicks, 20, got into a struggle with an Alton police officer over his weapon.

Hicks' former boyfriend Eric Perry said she had been dealing with a bi-polar disorder and decided to seek professional help, according to the TV station KSDK .

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Untimely death: Stephanie Hicks, 20, fatally shot herself in the head on Wednesday after wrestling a gun away from a police officer

Troubled: Loved ones said Hicks had been struggling with a bi-polar disorder and other mental issues

On Wednesday morning, she set out on foot in the sweltering heat from her home in Alton toward Christian Northeast Hospital about nine-and-a-half miles away.



An officer found Hicks walking across the Clark Bridge, which crosses the Mississippi River at Alton, and called for an EMS crew to examine her, St. Louis Today reported.



Alton Police Chief David Hayes said on Thursday that Hicks was not suicidal on the bridge, but simply trying to reach the hospital. She was medically cleared by the paramedics.

Chance encounter: An officer found Hicks walking across the Clark Bridge, which crosses the Mississippi River at Alton

Seeking help: Hicks was walking in the heat to Christian Northeast Hospital located more than nine miles from her home

Courtesy ride: Hicks got into the passenger seat of the patrol car because police said she was not in custody, and it was too hot in the back

At around 9am, the officer pulled over and asked Hicks if she needed a ride. The 20-year-old got into the front seat because the back of the car is for prisoners, and Hicks was not in custody.

‘In the back seat of those police cars, whatever the temperature is outside it’s usually 15 to 20 degrees hotter inside,’ Hayes said.

While it is not customary for Alton police officers to offer citizens courtesy rides, the officer called his commanding officer and received permission to drive Hicks, who was apparently known to the department.

When the vehicle reached Dunn Road and Highway 367, officials said the woman unexpectedly grabbed the pistol carried in a holster on the policeman’s right hip.



Chaotic scene: Officials said the woman did not say a word in the moments before she grabbed the officer's gun at Dunn Road and Highway 367

Police said the officer told them Hicks didn't say anything in the car before unsnapping his holster and shooting herself.

She was taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, where she died from her injury.

The patrol car was equipped with a video camera, Hayes said, but it is wired to the emergency lights and was not running. The officer turned on the lights after the shooting, and the camera captured the tragic aftermath.

The officer driving Hicks is a 13-year veteran on the Alton police force. He's been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.



Devastated: Hicks' mother, Robin, said her daughter should have never been allowed to be in a position to take the pistol

Hayes emphasized that the unnamed officer did not violate department procedures.

However, the victim’s relatives have expressed anger at the police, questioning how a 5-foot-1-inch woman who weighed only about 80 pounds managed to wrestle a gun away from the officer.

‘She got that gun and there’s no way she should have got that gun,’ the victim’s mother, Robin Hicks, told Fox 2 Now . ‘And I’m angry, and I’m pissed, and this is not right!’

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or see www.samaritans.org

In the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255

