A Cordova man died of a gunshot wound that officials say was caused by his own homemade security device.
Mark Alan Garrett, 45, was found dead inside his Eugenia Court home late Monday.
"There was a gun cabinet that was secured but that if the door was opened beyond a certain point, a weapon in the case would fire," Orangeburg County Coroner Samuetta Marshall said.
"The door was opened beyond that point," she said.
The official cause of death is a shotgun blast to the abdomen.
Foul play has been ruled out in Garrett death for the time being, according to Orangeburg County Sheriff Office's spokesperson Keisa Peterson.
"Based on forensic evidence and the autopsy results, at this point we are ruling the shooting accidental," Peterson said.
Orangeburg County Sheriff's deputies were sent to Garrick's residence around 9 p.m. Monday. A relative called authorities to say Garrick had not been seen in four days. Garrick was reportedly on medication and could be in need of medical help, the relative said.
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When deputies arrived, they found the house locked. There was no answer when they knocked on the door.
A deputy "made forced entry into the residence through the rear door," the incident report states. "The victim was found deceased on the floor in his bedroom doorway with a gunshot wound to the abdominal area."
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