James Wright, a 46-year-old white man from Casper, Wyoming, was spending a Thursday midday at a recreational shooting area west of town when something went terribly wrong. Deputies with the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office were called to the range on Coal Mountain Road at 12:51 p.m., and when they arrived they found Wright already down. He was declared dead at the scene.
Investigators from the Sheriff’s Office and the Coroner’s Office began piecing together what happened, working from what they could see at the site and what witnesses could tell them. Based on the physical evidence and follow-up interviews, officials concluded that Wright died from an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound. The authorities stated that they did not suspect foul play.
Wright’s family was notified, and officials said no autopsy was scheduled. In the public account of the investigation, there were no indications of a suspect search, and no arrests or criminal charges connected to the death, consistent with the determination that it was an accident rather than an assault or homicide.
