Pastor Rick Warren’s son: Autopsy underway in reported suicide

An Orange County coroner was conducting an autopsy Monday on the youngest son of Pastor Rick Warren to determine an official cause of death after he reportedly committed suicide.

Jim Amormino, an Orange County sheriff’s spokesman, said the cause of Matthew Warren’s death will be announced after the autopsy is complete.

Such autopsies are usually performed when suicide is suspected, authorities said Saturday afternoon.

Amormino said he could not confirm an earlier report by coroner’s officials to City News Service that Warren, 27, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Matthew Warren died at his home on Pradera Drive in Mission Viejo, and the death was reported to Orange County sheriff’s officials at about 5:25 p.m. Friday, according to coroner’s officials.

Rick Warren, a world-famous Orange County evangelical pastor, and his wife released a statement informing his congregation at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest that his youngest son had committed suicide after battling depression for much of his life.

Matthew was an “incredibly kind, gentle and compassionate man. He had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room. He’d then make a beeline to that person to engage and encourage them,” the statement said.

The statement said Matthew Warren took his life “in a momentary wave of despair” following an evening with Warren and his wife.

“Kay and I’ve been privileged to hold your hands as you faced a crisis or loss,” the statement said. “Today we need your prayers for us.”

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