PORTLAND – A Standish man was listed in critical condition after he shot himself in the head early Friday while being questioned by police in connection with a drug investigation.

Richard Cook, 39, was pulled over on Congress Street at about 3:35 a.m. after officers spotted his pickup truck. Cook was being sought for questioning about a midnight drug bust in Westbrook that turned up evidence of a methamphetamine lab.

While two officers and an agent from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency were questioning Cook, he pulled a handgun out of his sweat-shirt pocket and shot himself in the head, police said.

Cook was transported to Maine Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition.

“I’m telling you, the drug problem in this community is out of control,” Police Chief Michael Chitwood told reporters. “And the perpetrators are the guys who are putting our community in danger. Here’s a perfect example, except that he chose to kill himself and not three police officers.”

Cook is said to have been suicidal since the death of his 21/2-year-old son, who accidentally overdosed on medications in March.