Investigators say the 36-year-old co-owner of King's Barbecue on U.S. 70 was showing off his gun collection to some friends he had been watching basketball with on Saturday.
Lenoir County sheriff's Capt. Christopher Hill says that about 10:15 p.m. King took out a .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun and pulled the trigger. He apparently didn't know the gun's clip was in.
The shot hit King in the head. Authorities say he was dead when rescue workers arrived.
King's funeral and burial were held Tuesday at Westview Cemetery in Kinston.
Hill said King was a veteran of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and knew about guns. Hill also said alcohol played a major role in the incident.
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