A 22-year-old male, Timothy Phonisay, died in surgery at Froedtert Hospital after shooting himself in the thigh Friday morning.

Preliminary investigation shows Phonisay was posing with a handgun and when he went to holster it, a round was fired and entered his right groin area.

The surgeons identified two penetrating wounds to the right thigh. No bullet was recovered or found on x-ray.

During surgery, the patient developed respiratory distress at which time blood was found in his chest. A thoracotomy was performed and a significant amount of blood was removed via chest tube. The surgeons were unclear where this blood came from as no other injuries were identified.

Phonisay’s cardiac status declined and staff was unable to keep up with the amount of blood loss. He was pronounced dead shortly before 1 AM.

Milwaukee Police are investigating.