A former South Georgia police chief who was arrested and charged with felony theft earlier this month was found shot to death Thursday at a gun range in Cairo, according to multiple reports.
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Keith Sandefur, the former top lawman with the Cairo Police Department, was identified as the victim at a firing range on Wight Road in Cairo, according to Grady County Sheriff Harry Young, who was friends with Sandefur.
"I was just shocked that it was Keith," Young said in a statement to the local media in Cairo. "He's my dear friend. I'm very upset about it."
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has launched a probe into the shooting.
WALB News 10, the NBC affiliate in Cairo, is reporting Sandefur was killed by a single gunshot.
Authorities have not said they are seeking any suspects, nor whether the shooting was accidental, intentional or self-inflicted. Additional details were not immediately available.
After being dispatched to the range about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, emergency crews administered CPR to Sandefur but were unable to save him, reports said.
Young said Sandefur often went to the firing range but didn't know whether he had been alone when the shooting occurred.
Sandefur was charged Dec. 3 with two counts of theft after he allegedly purchased handguns for his associates and charged the cost to the city of Cairo, according to arrest records. He turned himself in to the Grady County Sheriff's Office the same day.
He had been facing two counts of felony theft by conversion.
The transactions have since been reversed and the property returned, officials said.
Agents discovered the dubious transactions in September after Cairo District Attorney Joe Mulholland asked the GBI to look into possible criminal activity by Sandefur.
Sandefur had been employed with the city police department since 1980, records show. He was promoted to police chief in 1995.
Cairo police investigator Giovanni Santos was named the city’s interim police chief the day after Sandefur's arrest.
Sandefur had already submitted his resignation and planned to officially retire Dec. 31.
— This is a developing story. Please return to AJC.com for updates.
