Manuel Manny Ortiz, 52, was a 22-year veteran of the Rochester Police Department who died in Penfield, New York, in November 2019. While driving to work on a Saturday evening he called his fiancée to report that he had accidentally shot himself in the leg. The gunshot severed his femoral artery; his vehicle then left Empire Boulevard and went into a ravine.

First responders, some trained by Ortiz at the police academy, found him in the car, applied tourniquets and carried him from the ravine, but he was pronounced dead at the scene due to severe blood loss. Colleagues remembered him as a dedicated and compassionate officer. There were no arrests or suspects; investigators and the news described his death as the result of a tragic accident.

Did anyone who knew Ortiz or who was in that area on Empire Boulevard that evening come forward with additional details?