Suicide by cop ended Air Force military police officer vet's life

Friend says woman wanted suicide by cop

NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A man who wanted to help a woman after she threatened to kill herself said she wanted to die before she shot a Miami-Dade Police officer and officers returned fire, killing her.

That officer, identified by police as 15-year veteran William Vazquez, was protected by a bullet-proof vest, which saved his life. He and Officer Saul Rodriguez responded to a home along 109th Street and Northwest 10th Avenue, at around 3:30 a.m., Friday. According to MDPD, the officers had responded to a disturbance call.

One friend said 32-year-old Catabawa Howard had been threatening to take her life for quite some time, and her shooting the officer in the stomach was an attempt to commit suicide by cop. "She wanted to get killed," said a man who only wanted to be identified as "Derek."

He said, before the fatal police-involved shooting, Howard had offered to pay him $500 to shoot her. "She wanted me to kill her," he said. Her mother verified this earlier in the morning.

Derek instead had her admitted to a mental ward. "I took her to crisis," he said. "I left her. I made sure they put here behind the doors, and once I left, I went to her mom's house because her mom is right across the street from crisis."

A former Air Force military police officer, Howard was discharged after being diagnosed for mental issues, family members said. Just one day after Derek took her into crisis intervention, she would be shot dead. "I just saw her maybe yesterday," Derek said, "and I made sure I took her to crisis."


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