An off-duty city EMS lieutenant took his own life in his Rockland County home, the Daily News has learned.
Lt. Matthew Keene, assigned to Station 17 on Ogden Ave. in the Bronx, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in his Nyack home, officials said.
His co-workers went to his home when he didn’t show up for his shift Friday and found him dead, sources said.
“He was the most loving, caring, giving person. He was an amazing son,” his devastated mother, Susan Keene, told the Daily News. “I’m only praying that he finds the peace that he couldn’t find here.”
Keene’s last shift was on Tuesday and he was seen by friends Wednesday, sources said. It was not immediately clear if he took his own life Thursday or Friday.
The Orangetown Police Department, which oversees Keene’s neighborhood, did not immediately return calls for comment.
“This is certainly a hard night for the station. He was a fantastic man. He would give you the shirt off his back. He had the kind of smile that would light up a room,” EMS Division 2 Chief Joseph Pataky said about Keene Friday night.
“Every member of this station and every one in the whole Bronx looked up to him. He had the work ethic all of us wanted to emulate,” Chief Pataky said Friday, surrounded by a dozen grief-stricken EMS officers.
“We are a family,” Pataky said. “Like any family, we will get through this together.”
Keene, 38, had been with the city EMS for nine years. He was a volunteer firefighter in his youth, his mother said, and always dreamed of working in public service.
“He has eight nieces and they’re all pretty shook up,” she said.
Keene and his fellow first responders were the “tip of the spear” in the fight against coronavirus, said Vincent Variale, president of the Uniformed EMS Officers Union.
“We need to be properly supported,” said Variale, who spoke to Keene two weeks ago. “If we don’t get it, I’m concerned see more of this.”
Keene is the second EMS member to die by suicide this year.
In April, newly-minted EMT John Mondello, 23, was found dead by the shoreline off Shore Blvd. in Astoria. He took his own life with a gun that belonged to his retired NYPD cop father, authorities and sources said.
Mondello began his career with FDNY EMS in January and was assigned to Station 18 in the Bronx.
Since the pandemic began, the FDNY has been vigorously promoting its Counseling Services Unit, which provides services for firefighters, EMTs and paramedics suffering from stress, depression and other mental health issues.
The CSU’s contact information routinely appears on all computers in FDNY ambulances, and peer counselors have been visiting each FDNY facility to offer services, a department spokesman said.
During the height of the pandemic between March 19 and May 29, FDNY employees took part in 3,077 counseling sessions with a licensed therapist, about a 25% jump from the same time last year, officials said.