Simi Officer’s Son Kills Self in Gun Accident

The 16-year-old son of a Simi Valley police officer accidentally shot himself to death Saturday in the family home, police said.

Cullen Brimberry received a fatal gunshot wound near his right eye as he was “checking the mechanical condition” of a handgun owned by the family, Simi Valley Police Sgt. Gary Collins said.

The weapon was not the service revolver carried by his father, Officer Joe Brimberry, 42, who was not at home when the 10 a.m. shooting occurred, Collins said.

The officer’s son and Adam Toubail, 18, who lives with the Brimberrys, were alone in the Simi Valley house at the time, Collins said.

After interviewing Toubail, police concluded that the shooting was accidental, Collins said. The circumstances of the shooting were not disclosed.

Cullen Brimberry, a junior at Simi Valley High School, was pronounced dead at Simi Valley Adventist Hospital less than four hours after the shooting, the sergeant said.

The victim’s father joined the Simi Valley police force in 1983 and is assigned to the department’s administrative services unit as a planning and research officer, Collins said.