By EUGENE L. TINKLEPAUGH, Staff Writer
Joseph Colin Sweatland, 12, of 219 E. Main St., Washington, died in
a hunting accident Saturday in Martin County.
According to Martin County Sheriff Keith Roach, the Sheriff’s
Office received a call at 11 a.m. Saturday morning in reference to an
accidental shooting.
Roach said the hunting accident occurred off N.C. Highway 11 near
the N.C. Highway 142 intersection in Hassell.
“Through investigations and the medical examiner’s office, it
appears to be a self-inflicted, accidental shooting,” Roach said
Monday.
According to Roach, other hunters were in the area at the time of
the accident.
“He was with another group hunting,” Roach said.
Roach speculated the group was deer hunting.
Sweatland, armed with a 20-gauge shotgun, was shot in the upper
torso.
“Nothing gives us any indication it was anything other than an
accident,” Roach continued. “It appears the gun went off accidentally
while he was walking through the brush.”
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