30-year-old man shot to death in Kansas after dog steps on rifle, causing it to fire

A 30-year-old man was killed Saturday after, investigators believe, he was struck by a rifle that discharged when a dog stepped on it.

Wellington Fire and EMS Chief Tim Hay said Joseph Austin Smith was shot around 9:40 a.m. in a truck in the 1600 block of East 80th Street, a country road about 46 miles south of Wichita.

According to the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, Smith was sitting in the front passenger seat of a pickup. A rifle and hunting gear were in the back seat.

Investigators say a dog belonging to the truck’s owner stepped on the rifle, causing it to discharge. Smith was hit in the back.

Emergency medical personnel administered CPR before Smith was pronounced dead at the scene, Hay said.

Another person who was in the driver's seat was physically unharmed, he said.