UPDATED: Investigation continues after man killed inside pawn shop

Published 3:11 pm Thursday, January 13, 2011

By BRAD GASKINS/Staff Writer

A Gadsden man was killed Thursday afternoon in what was first reported to Shelby County 911 as an accidental shooting.

John David Smith IV, 23, died shortly after 2 p.m., according to Shelby County Coroner Diana Hawkins.

Smith was shot once in the right shoulder, Hawkins said.

The shooting involved Smith and another employee at Anthony’s Jewelry and Pawn, located at 4673 Highway 280. The shooting occurred inside the business, according to Capt. Ken Burchfield, division commander of administrative services for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

No other employees or customers were injured, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office and coroner were still investigating the shooting at 11:20 a.m. Friday, according to the release.

In the release, Sheriff Chris Curry extended his “deepest sympathy to the family as well as Smith’s friends.”

The sheriff’s office became aware of the incident about 1:15 on Thursday when someone called 911 and reported that a person had accidentally been shot.

Sheriff’s deputies and the Cahaba Valley Fire Department responded to the scene, and investigators began looking at the circumstances leading up to the shooting.