Police said an off-duty Velda City police officer apparently shot himself to death in a car on South Grand Boulevard Monday.

St. Louis police said they were called to the intersection of Grand and Russell Avenue at 12:12 p.m. for a shooting. They found a man shot to death in a gray Ford Mustang when they arrived.

The gun apparently used in the shooting was found inside the car, St. Louis police Maj. Lawrence O'Toole said. Police said they would review surveillance tape, but said they were investigating the shooting as an apparent suicide and were not looking for a suspect.

O'Toole did not release other details about the shooting.

Velda City police Chief Daniel Paulino said the officer was Jerard Bradley, 23, who had been with the department about a year.

"He was a good officer here," Paulino said. "Nothing negative I can say about the young man. ... He did his job and he did it well, even though he had only been a policeman for a year."

Patrons of Mimi Nails and Designs and other bystanders outside the store watched as police interviewed family members and collected evidence from the car. A woman cried out in grief and collapsed into the arms of another woman.

Paulino said Bradley had been married a few months and had a baby daughter. He had recently asked to scale back his work so he could take college courses.

Bradley was also a volunteer firefighter in Washington Park and was in the Army Reserves, Paulino said.

Paulino said Bradley's death is hitting the other officers hard because he was like family in the force of 15 officers.

"We all know each other very well," Paulino said. "We are all taking this pretty hard because we didn't see that."

He said officers are being offered counseling.

Paulino said the weapon was Bradley's own gun, not a city-issued weapon.


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