St. Louis, MO – St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer Alexander Klein was killed in what may have been an accidental fall off-duty on Saturday.

St. Louis County police officers responded to Officer Klein’s residence at approximately 11 a.m. on June 23, after they received a report of an accidental injury, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

They arrived to find Officer Klein, 27, deceased on the back patio.

A preliminary investigation indicated that the off-duty officer’s death was an accident, but investigators are awaiting autopsy results to establish the cause of death, KMOV reported.

The ongoing investigation into Officer Klein’s death is being handled by the St. Louis county Police Department’s Bureau of Crimes Against Persons.

“On behalf of the Metropolitan Police Department, I extend my deepest sympathies to the Klein family during this challenging time,” St. Louis Police Commissioner John Hayden said, according to KMOV. “I ask the St. Louis community to keep the Klein family and the entire Metropolitan Police Department in your thoughts and prayers as we mourn the loss of our officer.”

Officer Klein began his career as a public servant in 2012, when he joined the St. Louis Metro PD as a civilian police dispatcher.

He went on to attend the St. Louis Police Academy in June of 2013, and joined the department as a sworn officer in January of 2014.

Officer Klein was a patrolman with the Fourth District, and was assigned to the Mobile Reserve Unit, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

He leaves behind his parents, brothers, and many friends and extended family members.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer Alexander Klein, both blood and blue. Thank you for your service.

Rest easy, hero. We’ll hold the line from here.