Suicide Antidepressant 03/12/2003 New York First Person to Die Violently at the United Nations
 
 Summary:<br><br><!--StartFragment -->Paragraph three reads: &quot;<strong>Halton, a popular 16-year veteran of the U.N. security force, was apparently depressed over </strong>marital problems and had recently begun taking an <strong>anti-depressant</strong> <strong>drug</strong>, police sources said. <br /><br />Paragraph four reads: &quot;He was the <strong>first person to die violently at the U.N.</strong> since it was founded more than a half-century ago&quot;. <br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/12354.htm">http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/12354.htm</a><br /><br /><br />UNITED NATIONS SUICIDE <br /><br />By JENNIFER GOULD KEIL, DEVIN SMITH and MURRAY WEISS -----------------------------------------------------------------------<br />December 2, 2003 -- A senior security officer at the United Nations suffered a deadly gunshot wound to his head in an apparent suicide in an employees&#39; lounge above the General Assembly, sources said. <br />The death of Michael Halton, 41, stunned friends and colleagues as well as bystanders gathered in the building for a World AIDS Day function with Jermaine Jackson, boxer Leila Ali and songstress Ashanti. <br /><br />Halton, a popular 16-year veteran of the U.N. security force, was apparently depressed over marital problems and had recently begun taking an anti-depressant drug, police sources said. <br /><br />He was the first person to die violently at the U.N. since it was founded more than a half-century ago. <br /><br />Authorities say Halton showed up for work yesterday at 8:45 a.m. and manned his usual post at the entrance to the building near 42nd Street, where the public gathers for tours through the building. <br /><br />At about 10 a.m., Halton took a brief break and headed for the third-floor lounge. When he failed to return to his post an hour later, co-workers went looking for him and made the grim discovery. <br /><br />He was found sprawled near a chair with his 9 mm Glock next to his body, sources said.&nbsp; <br /><br />Halton&#39;s boss, Michael McCann, fought back tears as he described Halton as an affable colleague who &quot;always had a smile.&quot; <br /><br />&quot;He was simply a great guy,&quot; a co-worker said, adding that Halton was married with two kids. <br /><br />Sources said despite Halton&#39;s upbeat demeanor at work, he had recently been depressed and, unbeknownst to his bosses, had been taking medication during the past week. <br /><br />Stunned and sobbing neighbors and relatives gathered at Halton&#39;s tidy two-story home in West Sayville, L.I., which was festooned for the holiday season with lights, a wreath on the front door and two statues from the &quot;Nutcracker Suite&quot; on the lawn. <br /><br />&quot;Mike was always playing ball with his kids out front or walking with his wife,&quot; said a neighbor who did not want to be identified. <br /><br />Another neighbor, who used to baby-sit the Halton children, said: &quot;I never would have expected this. It&#39;s a shock.&quot; <br /><br />Two other U.N. security guards died this year - one in the Staten Island Ferry tragedy last month, the other from cancer. <br /><br /> 
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