By Police1 Staff
ST. LOUIS — A Maryland Heights police officer’s 3-year-old fatally shot himself Tuesday, according to police.
Police found Daniel Metz, who had accidentally shot himself in the torso with a handgun, in the rear bedroom of his home. An emergency call from his mother alerted them to the incident, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Police are unclear how Metz got the gun or where in the house he found it, Police Chief Thomas O’Connor said. It is believed to be owned by Metz’s father, who was among the officers to arrive on the scene to attempt to save the boy.
Officers performed CPR, but Metz was pronounced dead that evening.
“It’s a terrible thing,” O’Connor said. “It’s pretty much a shock.”
Metz’s father is a three-year veteran of the Maryland Heights police, and counseling has been made available to him, his other family members, and the responding officers.