PORTLAND (AP) – A Standish man died Saturday a day after he shot himself in the head after being stopped by police in connection with a drug investigation, officials said.

Richard Cook, 39, was pulled over on Congress Street at about 3:35 a.m. Friday after officers spotted his pickup truck. He was being sought for questioning about a midnight drug bust in Westbrook that turned up evidence of a methamphetamine lab.

While two officers and an agent from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency were questioning Cook, he pulled a .38-caliber revolver out of his sweatshirt pocket and shot himself in the head, police said.

Cook was transported to Maine Medical Center, where he was initially listed in critical condition before dying Saturday morning.

Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood said the officers were lucky Cook didn’t turn the gun on them.

“I’m telling you, the drug problem in this community is out of control,” Chitwood told reporters. “And the perpetrators are the guys who are putting our community in danger. Here’s a perfect example, except that he chose to kill himself and not three police officers.”

Cook was said to have been suicidal since the death of his 2 1/2-year-old son, who accidentally overdosed on Cook’s prescription painkillers in March, Chitwood said.

AP-ES-07-10-04 1623EDT