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An off-duty St. Louis police officer was killed in an "accidental shooting" early Thursday in another officer's home, officials said.
The victim, identified as Katlyn Alix, was at a home in Carondelet with two on-duty officers just after 1 a.m. CT (2 a.m. ET) when the shooting happened, Police Commissioner John Hayden said at a news conference outside St. Louis University Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Officers responded to a call for an "officer in need of aid" at approximately 12:56 a.m.
Hayden said two male officers, whose names have not been released, went to one of their homes during their shift. Alix, 24, stopped by and while seated in the living room of the apartment, one of the on-duty officers "mishandled a firearm" and shot her in the chest.
The two other officers took her to the hospital.
The commissioner would not comment on why the three officers were there. The weapon was recovered at the scene, he said.
When asked Thursday about a police vehicle outside the hospital that has a broken back window, Hayden would only say it is being investigated.
The incident is being classified as an “accidental shooting,” Hayden said.
Alix was with the department for a little more than two years. The police commissioner said in a statement Thursday that Alix "was an enthusiastic and energetic young woman with a bright future ahead of her."
She is survived by her husband, mother, father and sister, authorities said. The on-duty officers are both 29. One has been with the department for about two years and the other for one year.