Missing man stopped, shoots himself in head in front of Keys deputy

A man reported missing from Port St. Lucie two weeks ago shot himself in the head in front of a Keys deputy sheriff early Thursday, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

Terrence Haynes, 61, was reported missing July 13 to the Port St. Lucie Police Department.

Port St. Lucie detective David Butterworth said Haynes "left of his own accord. He called his family and told them his intentions."

Monroe Deputy Becky Herrin says Deputy Jorge Prince was checking the end of Old Boca Chica Road on Big Coppitt Key at 12:30 a.m. when he saw a Ford F-150 truck parked at the barricades and checked on it. She said Haynes was behind the wheel.

Prince told Haynes that the beach there closes at 11 p.m. and Haynes reportedly said he just wanted to get some sleep. A computer check showed the missing-person report from Port St. Lucie.

Herrin said Prince asked Haynes to step out of his truck but he got agitated and drove away. Prince radioed for help and then followed it an attempt to stop Haynes.

He found Haynes about a half mile away at Old Boca Chica Road and U.S. 1 standing outside the truck smoking a cigarette. Herrin said Prince ordered Haynes to show him his hands — and that's when Haynes raised a gun to the side of his own head and shot himself.

Prince called for medical assistance and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Haynes until rescue units arrived, but he was declared dead by paramedics.

Herrin said deputies that experience traumatizing events similar to what Prince witnessed must participate in what's known as a critical-incident debriefing with a psychologist.

"All deputies involved in a critical incident of any kind are required to go to a critical debriefing session to make sure everything is OK before they go back to work," she said.

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 11:55 AM with the headline "Missing man stopped, shoots himself in head in front of Keys deputy."