UPDATE: Police on Wednesday, Oct. 3, identified the man who died as Courtney Dewayne Thomas, 30, of Hampton.
ORIGINAL STORY:
HAMPTON — An employee of Phoebus Auction Gallery was handling a gun inside the business Tuesday when it discharged, killing a co-worker.
That’s what police found during a preliminary investigation. Authorities said “this appears to be an isolated event between two known subjects who were both employed by the Phoebus Auction Gallery at the time of the incident.”
At around 2:43 p.m., officers were sent to the business in the first block of East Mellen Street to investigate a “shooting complaint.”
There, they found “an adult male suffering from a single gunshot wound.”
That man was pronounced dead at the scene. Information on his identity was not immediately released.
Police noted that “the exact circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation and the case is ongoing at this time.”
The identity of the employee who handled the gun also was not immediately released.
