One dead in accidental shooting

Published 12:14 pm Thursday, June 21, 2018

CHAMBERS — An accidental shooting that led to the death of a Hoover, Ala., teen on Wednesday night is being investigated by the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office.

According to Sheriff Sid Lockhart, Barry Anderson III, 19, of Hoover, was out Wednesday evening walking a road in the Ward’s Mill area of Five Point with his girlfriend, who he was visiting.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., Chambers County 911 received a call of someone being shot.

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Deputies, LaFayette EMS and a Lifesaver helicopter EMS were dispatched to the scene where Anderson was discovered with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

The gun in question, a Colt .45 revolver, was in Anderson’s possession.

“He was twirling the gun,” Sheriff Lockhart said. “He apparently dropped it and it went off, hitting him.”

The Lee County Coroner’s report states that before Anderson could be airlifted from the scene, he went into cardiac arrest and had to be rushed by ground ambulance to East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika. Efforts made to revive him were unsuccessful and Anderson was pronounced dead in the emergency room at 9:01 p.m.

His body was taken to the medical examiner’s office of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Montgomery for a postmortem exam.

Sheriff Lockhart said that while no foul play is suspected, the case is still being investigated.

“It’s tragic for something like this to happen to young people,” he said. “Please be careful with weapons. They’re not toys.”