A Sylacauga store clerk was found dead inside the business from an apparent accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police officers were dispatched at 12:45 p.m. Monday to the Hop In convenience store on North Broadway Avenue and 10th Street in Sylacauga.

The call was made by a firefighter who stopped at the store to make a purchase and found the clerk – identified as Pankaj Pankaj – lying in a pool of blood behind the counter. There was a handgun next to him.

Police Chief Kelley Johnson said an investigation was immediately launched. Video from the store’s surveillance cameras showed that the 21-year-old Pankaj accidentally shot himself in the head while looking at the store owner’s gun that was kept behind the counter for protection.

The chief said Pankaj’s death was ruled accidental by the county coroner after he, too, reviewed, the store video.

“The Sylacauga Police Department would like to express its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Pankaj Pankaj,’’ Johnson said.

Anyone with additional information about this case or any other case is asked to call 256-249-4716, 256-267-0090 or Central Alabama Crime Stoppers at 334-215-STOP (7867).