Man committed 'accidental suicide?'

BELLEVUE — A man accidentally shot and killed himself Tuesday in front of a woman and child, Bellevue police officer Eric Burt said.At about 12:20 a.m., officers responded to the 200 block of Kilbourne St., near the Bellevue Beverage Center, after receiving a 911 call.When police arrived the 36-year-old Chris Odell was dead. A woman and child witnessed the man shoot himself with a handgun in what appeared to them to be an accident, according to police."The initial assessment we are going off is that it was an accidental suicide," Burt said. "At this moment, we are not looking at it as it being any malicious criminal act."Burt said there's a possibility that alcohol played a part in the accidental death but police are still reviewing what happened."We have a further investigation going on and for some of the stuff we need a search warrant to collect," Burt said.Sandusky County coroner John Wukie was called and informed of the man's death. Wukie ordered an autopsy to be performed by the Lucas County Coroner's Office."It's being treated as a suicide, but it appears to be accidental," Burt said.Wukie has recorded other deaths as accidental suicides in the past, without ordering an autopsy, an unusual ruling that seems oxymoronic. People in a Facebook group for Bellevue residents speculated on what occurred with one person posting it was an accidental suicide. Many people offered their condolences to the family and those who witnessed the shooting.More Bellevue police articlesReach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegister