GREENFIELD — A Hancock County man shot and killed himself Wednesday morning inside a local gun store, police said.
Brent Smitley, 46, of McCordsville, visited Highsmith Guns in Greenfield Wednesday to use the shooting range but turned the gun on himself, police said.
Greenfield Police Department officers and medics from the Greenfield Fire Territory were called to Highsmith, 123 N. State St. around 10:45 a.m., after an employee called 911 to say a man had been shot.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Smitley had been at the store for about 20 minutes before the shooting, and he interacted with Highsmith staff only to complete the paperwork required to use the range, police said.
Smitley was pronounced dead at the scene, and detectives immediately began investigating the man’s death as a suicide, Greenfield Police Chief John Jester said. There was no indication the death was an accident and no indication the man had plans to hurt anyone else, Jester said.
Smitley had a note with him indicating that his actions were purposeful, Jester said.
Highsmith has an 11-lane shooting range inside its facility that is open to the public during regular business hours, according to the business’s website. Other customers were using the range and witnessed the suicide, officials said.
Mark Noland of Arlington was one of those witnesses.
Noland told the Daily Reporter he didn’t speak with the man, but nothing about him appeared to be out of the ordinary, he said.