Chicago Police Board Fires Sergeant After Gun Used in Woman's Suicide

The decision comes despite a suggestion by Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to suspend him for 60 days

The Chicago Police Board fired a police sergeant after a woman allegedly used his gun to shoot herself.

Sgt. Steven Lesner, a 20-year police veteran, was fired Thursday after a woman shot herself with his gun while he was using a bathroom in her apartment while off-duty, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The decision comes despite a suggestion by Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to suspend him for 60 days.

At a disciplinary hearing in May, Lesner reportedly admitted to inattention to duty and bringing discredit to the department by leaving his gun unattended and buying liquor for a 47-year-old woman he met while on duty.

Lesner testified that he met Catherine Weiland in February 2009 when he responded to a call of a disturbance between Weiland and her boyfriend at a Northwest Side restaurant. He drove Weiland home, but stopped to buy her a bottle of wine on the way.

After his shift ended, Lesner said he went to her apartment to watch TV and was in the bathroom when Weiland shot herself.

The Tribune reports that a relative of Weiland told investigators she was an alcoholic and bipolar and had not been taking her medications.

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