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Cop's autopsy finds no drugs

By The Denver Post 7/12/2001

COLORADO SPRINGS - Toxicology results from an autopsy on a Colorado Springs police officer who shot herself in the chest last week show there were no drugs or alcohol in the woman's system.

"Zero," said Dr. David Bowerman, El Paso County coroner. "Clean. No drugs, no alcohol. Nothing."

Police officer Brenda Whitlock, 36, the first female member of the police department's SWAT team and a champion national wrestler, shot herself in the chest Thursday. Police said Whitlock had been exhibiting signs of "bizarre behavior" in the 24 hours before her suicide.

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Cop's suicide 'doesn't make sense'

Springs policewoman shot self after chase

By Erin Emery
Denver Post Southern Colorado Bureau

Saturday, July 07, 2001 - COLORADO SPRINGS - For reasons no one can explain, Brenda Whitlock is gone.

On Thursday afternoon, the Colorado Springs police officer sat in her Ford pickup in the heart of downtown, raised her 9mm duty weapon to her chest and pulled the trigger.

Gone was Colorado Springs' first female SWAT officer, one of USA Wrestling's biggest former stars and police Sgt. David Whitlock's wife.

Suicide seemed like the last way Brenda Whitlock, 36, would die. Throughout her life, she had shown a pattern of not only embracing challenges but conquering them.

In the mid-1980s, she became one of the first women to wrestle on a men's college team. In 1994 and 1995, she won national championships in women's wrestling. Two years ago, she was the first woman selected to the Colorado Springs police SWAT Team.

"She was a pioneer for our sport, and that's been reflected in her career," said Gary Abbott, a spokesperson for USA Wrestling. "Taking on challenges was something she was very good at."

Police received reports Thursday about Whitlock's behavior, which police Lt. Skip Arms described as "different." He would not elaborate. Earlier Thursday afternoon, Whitlock, an eight-year veteran, met with her commander, Kurt Pillard. They agreed that she should be temporarily removed from duty and that she should see the police psychologist.

Whitlock drove with Pillard to police headquarters, but when they got close, Whitlock bolted from the moving car and ran to her pickup truck. She drove into the heart of downtown.

When she fired the bullet, at least three other officers were attempting to surround her truck at Nevada and Colorado avenues about 3:15 p.m. The officers, many who knew Whitlock, were visibly shaken by her death.

"Probably everybody that was directly involved with that is in a state of shock," Arms said, noting that police headquarters was very quiet Friday. "It's pretty somber. I think everybody is trying to figure this piece out. It just doesn't seem to make sense."

Arms said there was "absolutely no indication" that Whitlock was having problems prior to the 24-hour period before the suicide. Officers had no concern about her "fitness for duty" or welfare, he said.

Two years ago, Whitlock became the first woman to be selected for the SWAT team, which includes 10 officers and a sergeant.

"It's obvious that it takes a lot of drive and desire on her part to successfully compete for that select position," Arms said. "It's a rigid process, both physically and psychologically. Being the first points to her dedication and desire and a willingness to do whatever she could to achieve that."

Nearly four years ago, on Sept. 30, 1997, Whitlock earned the police department's Livesaving Award for saving the life of a man who had stabbed himself numerous times in the neck.

"She was able to locate him and to restrain him. Had she not done that, the medical opinion is that the man would have bled to death," Arms said.

A graduate of Palmer High School, Whitlock competed on the men's wrestling team at Northern Illinois University, becoming one of the first women to wrestle in college.

"Brenda was mentally tough," said Mike Duroe, USA Wrestling's national women's coach. Duroe coached Whitlock, then known as Brenda Day, when she placed fifth in the 1995 World Wrestling Championships in Moscow. "She was one of the pioneers. She went out on a limb, wrestling in college in the mid-'80s when women just did not wrestle. She portrayed a tough exterior; underneath she was sweet and considerate, always willing to help people."

She was a go-getter, a very hard worker, he said. While training in Chula Vista, Calif., Duroe witnessed her toughness firsthand. Since there were no wrestling facilities at the Olympic Training Center south of San Diego, the team had to drive to a high school for practice. She would do a two-hour workout and then on the drive back to the training center, "She'd get out of the van about 5 or 6 miles from the training center. She'd end up running back to the training center, and that was after a two-hour workout," Duroe said.

She quit wrestling in 1996 because of chronic back problems, although Duroe thought she would like to return to the mat - especially since there is a possibility that women's wrestling will be an Olympic sport at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Women's wrestling is one of the fastest-growing women's sports, with an estimated 5,000 women nationally competing in high school and college.

"She was very result-driven. She wanted to do her absolute best in everything. She was just a really intense person," Duroe said. "Obviously, it was something catastrophic that triggered it."

No public funeral services will be held. Whitlock's husband, a police sergeant in the internal-affairs unit, has requested that memorial donations be made to USA Wrestling, 6155 Lehman Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80918.