[MO] Daniel Metz; Tragic loss of the officer's son who loved to read

The three year old son of a Maryland Heights police officer [Ryan Metz] was killed Tuesday afternoon while playing with his father's personal handgun... Metz was among the first to respond to the shooting.... [Daniel] was very interested in the weather and garage doors, [his mom Amanda] said. In fact, his favorite book was a garage door manual that he often would take to bed with him. "It's tattered, that's how worn it is"...

BLOG: Books For Daniel

FACEBOOK: Friends of Daniel Metz

FUND

The department has set up a fund to help the Metz family. You can send donations, in care of the  Maryland Heights Police Officers’ Association, P.O. Box 1261, Maryland Heights, MO. 63043 Attention: Metz Family Fund. 

MARYLAND HEIGHTS OFFICER'S SON, 3, FATALLY SHOOTS HIMSELF
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Patrick M. O'connell and Marlon A. Walker
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
[Excerpts] The 3-year-old son of a Maryland Heights police officer fatally shot himself Tuesday, police said. Officers responded to a home in the 12200 block of Glenpark Drive about 5:30 p.m. after the boy's mother reported an emergency. Police found the boy in a rear bedroom, where he had accidentally shot himself in the upper torso with a handgun... The boy, Daniel Metz, was pronounced dead at 6:05 p.m. Tuesday in the emergency room at DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton... The boy's father, a three-year member of the police department who patrols the area near where he lives, was among the first officers on the scene... "We don't have the pertinent information yet on how the gun was accessible," [Maryland Heights Police Chief Thomas] O'Connor said. "We will look at every aspect of this, and we will review it"... Tuesday night, crime scene tape ringed the front yard of their home, and a police officer stood sentry in front... [Full article here]

MO. POLICE OFFICER’S 3 YR OLD SON ACCIDENTLY KILLED PLAYING WITH GUN 
KTVI-FOX2now.com
July 20, 2011
[Excerpts] ...“I’ve been a police officer 29 years,” said Chief O’Conner, “and I never brought a loaded gun into my home while my kids were there for this very reason. The gun should have been unavailable, locked up or something else, for a toddler to find.” O’Conner said the case will be investigated the same as every other incident involving a child injured or killed by a gun in the home. “We’ll give the family some space, because they’re devastated,” he said. “We will interview everyone who was there and all the first responders to determine how the child gained access to the weapon, and we’ll refer the case to prosecutors if necessary”... [Full article here]

POLICE OFFICER'S SON, THREE, DIES AFTER SHOOTING HIMSELF WITH GUN HE FOUND AT HOME - AND HIS FATHER ANSWERS THE 911 CALL
The Daily Mail
By Fiona Roberts
20 July 2011
[Excerpts] ...[Maryland Heights Police Chief Thomas] O'Connor said he does not yet know how the boy found the gun, but he intends to 'look at every aspect' of the case. He told Fox 12: 'I've been a police officer 29 years and I never brought a loaded gun into my home while my kids were there for this very reason. 'The gun should have been unavailable, locked up or something else, for a toddler to find.' He added: 'We'll give the family some space, because they're devastated. 'We will interview everyone who was there and all the first responders to determine how the child gained access to the weapon, and we'll refer the case to prosecutors if necessary'... [Full article here]

THREE YEAR OLD SON OF POLICE OFFICER ACCIDENTALLY SHOOTS HIMSELF
FOX2now.com
By Charles Jaco
July 19, 2011
[Excerpts] The three year old son of a Maryland Heights police officer was killed Tuesday afternoon while playing with his father's personal handgun. Three year old Daniel Metz shot himself in the chest and was pronounced dead at DePaul Medical Center in Bridgeton. His father, Patrolman Ryan Metz, was on duty at the time, on patrol in his own neighborhood, and was the first to respond to the scene of his son's death. The Maryland Heights police chief, Col. Thomas O'Conner, said the child was apparently unsupervised in a bedroom of his parent's home when he somehow found the loaded gun and killed himself. Chief O'Conner said Patrolman Metz had been with the force for two years and is "a good officer"... O'Conner said the case will be investigated the same as every other incident involving a child injured or killed by a gun in the home... [Full article here]

MARYLAND HEIGHTS OFFICER HAD MOVED GUN USED IN SON’S SHOOTING
KMOX Radio
Brian Kelly
July 21, 2011
[Excerpts] Tuesday’s shooting death of the three-year old son of a Maryland Heights Police officer, was a case where “all the elements had to line up just right, to create a perfect storm.” That’s according to Detective Sgt. Joe Eagan who says the officer usually kept the weapon, which he used for a secondary job, on a high shelf in a closet... Eagan says Daniel Metz would not have been able to get the weapon out of the drawer, if he hadn’t brought a laundry basket into the room, from another room in the house... Eagan says there was no lock on the loaded weapon... [Full article here]

PROSECUTORS IN ST. LOUIS AREA FACE TOUGH DECISIONS IN CHILD SHOOTING DEATHS
STLtoday.com
by jennifer mann
July 22, 2011 8:15 am
[Excerpts] ...While the laws give prosecutors flexibility to consider the nuances of each case, they also require them to get inside the head of the person who left the gun unattended. "These are very difficult cases to prove and to prosecute because they are emotionally charged and the law requires us to prove someone's mental state," St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce said in a statement. "As tragic as these cases are, as prosecutors, our focus is to apply the law and determine whether a law has been broken"... On Tuesday, 3-year-old Daniel Metz fatally shot himself with a handgun he found in his Maryland Heights home. Daniel's father, Maryland Heights police Officer Ryan Metz, was among the first to respond to the shooting. The gun was owned by Metz for personal use and was not department-issued... In her statement, Joyce said accidental shootings are not unlike cases in which a parent unintentionally leaves a child in a hot car... Newton County Prosecuting Attorney Jacob Skouby knows the position Joyce and the other local prosecutors are in... "Just because there's been a tragedy doesn't mean somebody's committed a crime," he said. Still, every state should have strong laws on child access to guns, said Lindsay Nichols, an attorney with the Legal Community Against Violence... "These laws are effective at holding gun owners accountable for storing their guns safely," she said... [Full article here]

[BOOKS FOR DANIEL]

MOMS TO DONATE BOOKS IN MEMORY OF 3-YEAR-OLD SHOOTING VICTIM
STLtoday.com
By Susan Weich
September 18, 2011
[Excerpts] The day after 3-year-old Daniel Metz fatally shot himself with a pistol, a group of family friends began planning a way to honor the memory of the boy who loved to read. Their idea mushroomed into a large book drive, and on Monday, about 1,000 new volumes will be donated in his name to Rose Acres Elementary School, where Daniel would have attended preschool next fall... The project has brought something good out of the accident, said Daniel's mother, Amanda Metz. "A lot of kids are going to get great books for the library, more chances to read, and hopefully learn new things and enjoy them like he did," she said... By last week, 1,215 donations had come in... Amanda Metz said that she is an avid reader and that Daniel had enjoyed going to the library with her. "He loved to sit down and have me read to him or he would look at the pictures," she said. He was very interested in the weather and garage doors, she said. In fact, his favorite book was a garage door manual that he often would take to bed with him. "It's tattered, that's how worn it is," she said... Daniel also shared his books with his younger brothers, Jake, 2, and Andrew, 3 months old. "Daniel was super-friendly, a great big brother and just made friends with everyone"... [Full article here]
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv child abuse neglect law enforcement public safety lethal fatality fatalities accidental accidentally negligent homicide toddler child children gun safety missouri state politics living with guns]