Former Miami-Dade police director blames suicide attempt on work-related stress
In his first public appearance since trying to take his own life on the side of a highway south of Tampa four months ago, former Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez said he doesn’t have much recollection of the day and blamed the debacle on a mental health episode.
Ramirez appeared in a pair of five-minute segments Monday night with WTVJ Channel 6 anchor Jackie Nespral. In the interview, he said the breakdown stemmed from an accumulation of stress that ranged from police officers under his watch being injured and killed to leading them through the Surfside condo collapse and the pandemic. The upcoming sheriff’s race played a factor, too.
“In terms of stress, I used to tell myself I’ll pay for it later. Well, the bill came sooner than expected,” Ramirez said, seated opposite Nespral, dressed neatly in a dark blue suit and wearing thick-rimmed glasses that partially obscured his injured eye. “Unfortunately when you take the uniform off, you still bring the stuff from the street home.”
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After four months of intensive therapy, the former director said he still believes he has something to offer the community and that he has no intention of ever putting his family in harm’s way again.
“Maybe it happened for a reason. The key is I’m still here and I still have a lot to give to my family and the community,” he said.
Ramirez, the heavy favorite to win next November’s sheriff’s race, dropped out after the July incident. After his return to Miami just a few weeks ago, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava named interim director Stephanie Daniels to the top county police post full-time and said Ramirez will focus on transitioning the county as it navigates a new elected sheriff’s office.
The former police director’s life took a dramatic turn on July 23 after a heated argument with his wife during a sheriff’s convention at the downtown Tampa JW Marriott Hotel. Ramirez never specified what they were arguing about.
On the first night of what was supposed to be a weekend-long event, the couple moved the discussion out to the street. Then someone called 911, claiming to have seen Ramirez pull out his gun. It was unclear if he aimed it at himself.
Tampa police who showed up at the hotel after the 911 call decided to let the couple go after interviewing them separately just outside their hotel room and being told by Jody Ramirez that she didn’t feel threatened by her husband. When a handcuffed Ramirez promised not to harm himself or anyone else, police returned his weapon and released the couple.
Still, management later kicked the couple out of the hotel and they headed back to their West Kendall home. During the ride, Freddy Ramirez called Levine Cava and his campaign manager, warning them about the scene at the hotel, certain it would become a public spectacle. He offered his resignation. Levine Cava said they’d talk on Monday after he got home.
A few minutes later and further south down I-75 near mile marker 244, Ramirez pulled his SUV to the side of the road, pulled out his gun and shot himself through the right temple, the bullet exiting through his right eye, which he lost. Jody Ramirez, frantic, called 911. When police arrived, they found Freddy Ramirez wandering aimlessly. He was transported to the hospital and spent the next three months in therapy and recuperating in Tampa.
READ MORE: Miami-Dade police director denies pulling out gun in Tampa, says wife saved his life
Though it’s unclear exactly when Freddy Ramirez returned to Miami, the mayor publicly announced the changes at the police department in the middle of last week.
During the NBC interview Monday, Freddy Ramirez said he plans to return to work in January. Asked if the public and his family could still trust him to handle a weapon, the former director didn’t hesitate.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Look at my track record. Like I told the mayor, I fell down.”
