Baltimore High School Resource Officer Shoots and Kills Self, Prompting Lockdown

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A Baltimore County Police officer who was working as a school resource officer at Eastern Technical High School shot and killed himself on Nov. 12.

Joseph Comegna was sent to MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center with self-inflicted gunshot wounds, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Faculty heard a sound come from his basement office at around 12:23 p.m., finding him alone with a gunshot wound, police spokeswoman Jennifer Peach told the newspaper. Investigators believe he shot himself with his service weapon.

As a result, the school was placed on lockdown status and students were kept away from the area, the paper reported. Students were dismissed at the normal time at 2:20 p.m.

No students or staff were harmed, officials said. “We don’t believe that anyone else witnessed this event,” Peach told a local news website. Surveillance footage suggested that Cormega was the only one who went into the office, and only one gun was found at the scene.

“I am saddened to learn about the death of Officer Joseph Comegna, the school resource officer at Eastern Technical High,” Superintendent Verletta White said. “My thoughts and prayers are with his family, the Baltimore County Police Department, and Eastern Tech’s students and staff. We will be sure to have a traumatic loss team at the school to support students and staff Tuesday.”

Baltimore County Executive Don Mohler also sent his condolences to the officer’s family.

“So difficult to find the words when a family loses a loved one,” he said. “All of us in Baltimore County stand in support of the Comegna family at this difficult time.”

Students remembered Comegna as a kind-hearted man.

“He was genuinely a kind person and you wouldn’t think there would be anything wrong,” sophomore Gilliam Robles told WJZ. Robles added that he spoke with him about one hour before the shooting.

“He smiled at me, he said his day was going good, and he asked me the same, but unfortunately we were in a rush so we really couldn’t exchange a conversation,” Robles told the news outlet.

“I have memories of hearing Officer Comegna’s heavy footsteps coming down the hallway, him directing traffic after school, and him teaching about 9/11 in law, drugs in health, and explosives in forensics,” former student Christine Ho tweeted about the incident. “Thank you for protecting Eastern Tech for as long as you did, rest in peace.”

“He genuinely cared about every single student at Eastern Tech,” another student wrote on Twitter. “Truly devastating.”

If you need help or know someone who needs assistance, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8355.