Cops: Quadruple amputee sought in parents' death shot himself
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A quadruple amputee named as a "person of interest" in the deaths of his parents in Florida fatally shot himself during a traffic stop in Tennessee, police say.
Memphis police said Wednesday that 30-year-old Sean Petrozzino died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head during a traffic stop in a Memphis neighborhood on Monday. Officers said they heard a "pop" sound as they exited their car and found the driver dead. A pistol was found in the vehicle.
Detectives from the Orange County Sheriff's Office in Florida had been looking for Petrozzino after the bodies of 64-year-old Nancy Petrozzino and 63-year-old Michael Petrozzino were found fatally shot inside their home a week ago. Police say the vehicle he drove was registered to the couple.
As a teenager, Petrozzino survived a devastating bacterial infection that left him a quadruple amputee. He had two prosthetic legs, but it is unclear whether he also had prosthetic arms.
It would be difficult, though not impossible, for Sean Petrozzino to fire a gun without using prosthetics, said Doug Pringle, chief operating officer of Prosthetic Consulting Services, in Nevada.