A Coweta man has died in an accidental shooting, police said Tuesday.

John Sims, 50, was going to a barn on his property on Luther Bailey Road on Monday, the Coweta County Sheriff's Office said. Sims was carrying a shotgun for hunting squirrels. He had his grandchildren with him, police said.

At one point Sims placed the gun against the side of a building. When the shotgun began to slide to the ground, Sims reached for the weapon and grabbed it. The gun fired, hitting Sims in the chest, said Maj. James Yarborough of the sheriff's office.

Sims was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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