When a SWAT team arrived at the lieutenant's home, they found him waiting outside with what was believed to be a gun.
Survey: Last year, 126 police officer killed themselves
Even for stone-faced, seen-it-all-before officers, the act that took place at a police lieutenant's Las Vegas-area home Monday was deeply distressing.
The 52-year-old lawman, police said, killed his wife and child, called 911 to say he was burning his house down and warned he would take the life of anyone who tried to stop him.
Then he waited.
When a SWAT team arrived at the lieutenant's Boulder City home, they found him outside with what looked like a handgun.
Officers asked him to drop the weapon -- commands the lieutenant must have screamed many times before in his 20-year career. He ignored them and ducked back into the blazing home.
It was then, police believe, that he killed himself.
Once firefighters put out the blaze that tore through the home, they found his body, his 46-year-old wife's, and their elementary-school-aged son's.
CNN is withholding their names because the coroner's office has not finished notifying family members.
The lieutenant worked for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, where he supervised patrol officers, CNN affiliate KVVU reported.
The station had interviewed him before about other crimes.
The wife worked for some time as a Las Vegas police officer, the Las Vegas Review-Journal said.
She won a community service award and a lifesaving award before leaving the department in 2005.
"Anyone involved with law enforcement for any amount of time is usually prepared for any scenario, but nobody can prepare for something like this," Las Vegas Metro Sheriff Doug Gillespie told reporters.
Click here to read more.
SOURCE: CNN
Lateef Mungin
