Mar 26, 7:08 PM EDT
Retired Jersey City cop dies from gunshot in apparent accident
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) -- A retired Jersey City police officer died Monday at a city police building when a handgun discharged as he was cleaning it, police said.
Robert J. McGillis Jr., 53, died of a single gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after noon, police said.
The shooting appeared to be accidental, police said.
A preliminary investigation found that McGillis, who retired in June of 2000 and was rehired in January 2006 as a consultant and coordinator for the K-9 unit, was cleaning the large-caliber handgun at the time of the accident. Cleaning materials were on a table adjacent to where the shooting occurred, officials said.
McGillis joined the Jersey City Police Department in 1976 and was the recipient of five commendations. He was a member of the department's Emergency Service Unit as a K-9 officer. He came back from retirement to oversee an expansion of the department's K-9 unit.
The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office is handling the investigation.
...after they were place there by co-worker.