Joseph Austin Smith shot and killed when a dog stood on a rifle during a hunting trip

According to the findings of the investigation, the fatal shooting that occurred on Saturday in Sumner County was caused by a dog.

According to the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, the victim was a Wichita man named Joseph Austin Smith, who was 30 years old.

The shooting occurred in the 1600 block of East 80th Street about 9:40 a.m. The location is southeast of Wellington and south of Oxford.

In response to a 911 call reporting that Wichita resident Joseph Austin Smith, 30, had been shot in the back inside a pickup truck in Geuda Springs, deputies were sent to the scene at 9:47 a.m. local time on Saturday, according to the police.

According to the sheriff’s office, teams responded to the call within minutes and began performing CPR as soon as they discovered Smith in the front passenger seat of the truck. Smith eventually succumbed to the gunshot wound.

According to authorities, the dog, which belonged to the owner of the truck, was stepping on the rifle while it was in the back seat of the vehicle with hunting equipment. Police stated that the inquiry is still open.

At the time, it wasn’t clear right away if anyone else was in the truck.

The Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and the Wellington Fire and EMS are the authorities that are involved in this investigation.

Chris Brown, the owner of Brown Plumbing Services and Smith’s boss, claimed that Smith was well-liked by individuals “from all walks of life.”

Mr. Brown stated in a GoFundMe campaign that he had created to gather money for his family that “no matter how horrible or stressful my day was, or how our day was, Joe always had something to lighten our spirits.”