A Novato man accidentally shot himself and died at the Black Point Game Bird Club in Petaluma on Thursday afternoon, a Sonoma County sheriff's lieutenant said.
Jay Sitton, 55, went to the club at 7711 Lakeville Road to shoot skeet, sheriff's Lt. Bret Sackett said.
Sitton bought shooting supplies at the club office and went to the shooting range area, where he was the only one shooting, Sackett said. He returned to the office an hour later to ask for more time on the shooting range, Sackett said.
After Sitton went back to the range, a club employee found him an hour later lying next to the open door of his truck, according to Sackett.
Sitton had a gunshot wound to his chest and sheriff's deputies found a shotgun inside the truck with its barrel facing toward the truck's open door, Sackett said.
Investigators believe Sitton accidentally shot himself as he removed the shotgun from the back seat, and the death is considered accidental, Sackett said.
The Marin Independent Journal reported that Sitton grew up in San Anselmo and was the longtime owner of a car repair shop in San Francisco. Sitton's wife, Michelle, told the IJ that her husband was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed skiing, waterskiing, fishing and bicycling, and he was also an experienced hunter and skeet shooter.
An autopsy was scheduled for Friday, a county coroner's office spokeswoman said.
— Bay City News Service
