Pictured: ‘Hardworking’ married father, 40, shot dead by police as he threatened to take his own life
- Giedrius Vasiljevas was shot dead by the Met Police in Dagenham last night
- He called police threatening to take his own life with two loaded guns
- For help, call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org
The man with a gun shot dead by Metropolitan Police officers after he threatened to take his own life has been named as ‘hardworking’, married father Giedrius Vasiljevas.
The 40-year-old was shot twice by the Metropolitan Police at his house in Dagenham, East London around 9pm last night.
He had phoned 999 and told the operator that he wanted to take his own life and that he had loaded guns, according to a police statement.
Officers rushed to his home using a specialist negotiator to try to ‘bring the incident to a safe conclusion’.
But Mr Vasiljevas – who according to his family had a history of mental health problems – is understood to have confronted officers on his doorstep before shots were fired.
Giedrius Vasiljevas, right, was shot dead by police in Dagenham, east London, last night
Mr Vasiljevas called police warning them he wanted to take his own life with a loaded gun
He was pronounced dead at 9.30pm despite attempts by police and paramedics to save his life.
Today his devastated wife, Sigita Vasiljeva, paid tribute to him, saying: ‘He was a hardworking family man and a good father, but he needed psychological treatment and he couldn’t find the help he needed.’
Ms Vasiljeva and her young son are currently staying with a friend who lives nearby while their home is examined by police and forensics.
The friend told MailOnline: ‘Giedrius had come back from Lithuania about two weeks ago, where he’d visited his older daughter.
READ MORE: ‘Suicidal’ man shot dead by police
‘He has been married twice before, Sigita is his third wife.
‘She’d dropped their son off at school and picked him up and dropped him at mine so she could go to work, cleaning offices.
‘Giedrius stayed at home. He worked in the construction industry but recently he hadn’t been on many jobs.
‘Sigita came back later in the evening and went to her house but there were police everywhere. They told her what had
happened, and she was distraught.
‘Giedrius had been suffering from poor mental health. He’d be talking to people who weren’t there and last week he’d acted strange and got up at 3am to start washing clothes.
‘I don’t know if he’d been diagnosed with anything, but he’d tried to get help for his mental health. Yet the problems continued.
‘He’d also drink quite heavily because of what he was going through.
Today his devastated wife, Sigita Vasiljeva, paid tribute to him, saying: ‘He was a hardworking family man and a good father, but he needed psychological treatment and he couldn’t find the help he needed’
‘He had a rifle-type gun because he’d apparently found one in the back of his shed when he moved into the house.
‘What happened when the police arrived at the house, we just don’t know fully yet. It’s under investigation and nobody has told us too much. We’re still awaiting answers on a lot of things.
‘But Giedrius was a good man, he just needed some help.’
- For help, call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org
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