TRENTON NJ December 27 2018  — A Mercer County sheriff officer committed suicide inside the county McDade Administration building Wednesday, officials confirmed.

The Mercer County Homicide Task Force responded this afternoon to the 600 block of South Broad Street where they found the sheriff’s officer dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, a spokeswoman from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

Officials were withholding the sheriff officer’s name as the investigation continues, but The Trentonian has learned Detective Pablo Santiago was the sheriff officer who was found dead inside the county building.

Santiago apparently showed no signs of distress when he reported to the county building for work Wednesday morning, colleagues said.

He was found dead inside a restroom at the facility.

Members of the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office were reeling at the news of the death of Santiago, who had been with the sheriff’s office since 2004.

“This tragedy is a very sad reminder of the pressures that law-enforcement officers experience on a daily basis,” Mercer County Sheriff Jack Kemler said in a statement. “Our hearts break when a law enforcement officer in our community dies under any circumstances. I know that all of our Sheriff’s Officers feel a terrible loss today. Our thoughts and prayers are with Detective Santiago, his family, his friends and colleagues.”

Santiago transferred to the sheriff’s office from Trenton Police where he spent a year as an officer, according to his LinkedIn.

“It’s not what I can tell you about him,” Mercer County undersheriff Pedro Medina said in a telephone interview. “It’s what everyone will tell you about him. He gave himself 150 percent. Such a kind guy who didn’t expect anything in return. I cannot think of one person, one person, who didn’t like Pablo. I don’t think he had any enemies.”

Santiago previously worked as a dispatcher and an animal control officer for the city of Trenton. He also served as president of the sheriff’s officers union, PBA Local 187.

Paul Perez, the law-and-order Trenton man who previously ran unsuccessfully for mayor, knew Santiago very well and expressed his deepest condolences Wednesday upon learning about the detective’s death.

“He was a great, shining star of our community,” Perez said of Santiago. “He was deeply loved and respected. My condolences go out to his mother and his family. This is a very sad day. We send our condolences and hope the details of what happened surface and hopefully we can have resolution to whatever brought this problem. We are really in shock.”

Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes passed along his condolences to the family.

“The Mercer County Family is deeply saddened by this tragedy, and our heartfelt condolences go out to Detective Santiago’s loved ones,” he said in a statement released by the county.

President Pat Colligan informed fellow members of Santiago’s passing on the state PBA’s Facebook page.

“It is with deep regret I have to announce the passing of Pablo Santiago, President of the Mercer County Sheriffs Department PBA and great friend to many of us locally and throughout the entire state,” he said. “Pablo will be sorely missed.”

In 2015, Santiago was honored by the state PBA with a unit citation award, given to law enforcement who demonstrate outstanding performance in the line of duty.

He was also honored, along with Trenton Police’s Angel Turner, with a community impact award by the owners of the Chambers Street McDonald’s, Freddie and Rosa Rosado, during a “Coffee with a Cop” event in March of this year.

“I’m speechless,” Santiago said, when presented with the award. “Thank you.”

Santiago gave off a happy-go-lucky impression in his public postings. Earlier this month, he put up a smiling picture of himself decked out in a green Christmas suit with matching green shoes, to boot, with two thumbs up.

Feeling numb,” one person wrote underneath the picture.

“My heart is broken in so many pieces,” another added.

“I am truly heartbroken by your loss,” Mercer County clerk Paula Sollami-Covello wrote. “It is beyond understanding when we lose someone so young and full of zest for life. Praying for you and yours, Pablo.”

On Dec. 10, in a Facebook post that now seems foreboding, Santiago posted a picture of footprints in the sand with the words, “Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.”

About two months before, Santiago posted a link on the Law Enforcement Today website that suggested a recent study found police suicides outnumbered the number line-of-duty deaths last year.

The Mercer County detective included his own views on suicide in the Oct. 8 post.

“Suicide is a permanent solution to temporary situations,” he wrote.

Medina said he didn’t know “what drove him [Santiago] to this.”

Help is available for anyone having thoughts of suicide or who knows someone who is by calling the National Suicide Prevention Helpline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) at any time. Help is available from the Crisis Textline by texting CONNECT to 741741.