Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter has confirmed that Rochester Police Officer Manny Ortiz shot himself before he crashed, and died, along Empire Boulevard.
Before crashing, Ortiz had called his fiance to say he had accidentally shot himself and was headed to the hospital. She called 911.
Ortiz died at the scene. He had shot himself once in the femoral artery in the left thigh.
Baxter says the gun had to have been removed from the holster for it to go off. It's unclear why, and it was found in Ortiz's holster at the scene. Baxter says we may never know exactly what happened.
Baxter says there is no reason to believe Ortiz's death was anything other than a tragic accident.