A rookie cop in Arizona was fatally shot in the face when he responded to a domestic violence case Saturday, The Arizona Republic reported.

Officer Tyler Stewart was investigating a domestic violence call in Flagstaff when a suspect shot him, and the cop activated an emergency button to alert his patrol. The suspect turned the gun on himself and died of self-inflicted wounds.

Robert W. Smith of Prescott fired several shots at the officer, according to spokeswoman Sgt. Margaret Bentzen.

"This is an enormous tragedy for our department and the family of our officer," Flagstaff police chief Kevin Treadway said in a statement. "We are a very close-knit organization, and know that all members of the Flagstaff Police Department are grieving at this time. ... With that being said, all of the men and women of the Flagstaff Police Department extend our prayers and condolences to the family of our Officer Tyler Stewart."

Stewart is the second Flagstaff officer to be killed in the line of duty. Officer Jeff Moritz was shot and killed on June 21, 2000, according to The Arizona.

"It is a dangerous job from day one," Mayor Jerry Nabours said.

"In Flagstaff, we very much know and like our police officers," Nabours said. "They may very well be your child's little league coach, somebody you went to high school with, so we think of our police as part of the community and our friends."

Jimmy Chavez, president of the Arizona Highway Patrol Association, said domestic violence calls are among the most dangerous for responding officers.

"Those are never safe scenarios to go into in any event," Chavez said.

Officer Stewart graduated from Boulder Creek High School in Anthem in 2008 and is a graduate of Concordia College in California.

Several of his friends mourned the 24-year-old officer's death via Facebook posting pictures of memories and turning their profile pictures black with a single blue line.