A Baltimore County police officer who worked as a school resource officer killed himself at Eastern Technical High School in Essex on Monday, police said.
Emergency responders were dispatched to the school in the 1100 block of Mace Avenue around 12:23 p.m. for a call of an officer down.
Officer Joseph Comegna was found alone in his office at the Baltimore County Public School with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the upper body, police said. Authorities said surveillance footage shows Comegna walking down a hall way, then entering his office by himself.
The school was placed on a short lockdown after faculty reported hearing the noise of a gunshot, police said. Comegna was transported to MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said. The death is being investigated as a suicide.
The motive of the shooting is still under investigation, police said.
Comegna is a 21-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department. He has been a school resource officer for the past 12 years, four being at Eastern Tech.
Crisis counselors are at the school this week to aide grieving students and staff members. Police described Comegna was a devoted husband, father and police officer.
–Delise White