By JAY REEVES
The Associated Press
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A small town’s acting police chief was found shot to death early Monday beside a county monument to slain officers, and authorities said it appeared to be a suicide.
Deputy Coroner Jack Parker said the man, identified by other authorities as Sonny Sorrell, acting chief in Parrish, apparently shot himself with his service weapon. He was found dead about 10 minutes later.
“It appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Parker said.
Sorrell, who had been with the Parrish Police Department since 2003, once was police chief. But town leaders stripped him of the title and designated him acting chief in March after deciding there had been a procedural problem with the vote.
Sorrell blamed the move on his attempts to stop drug sales in Parrish, where a City Council member and her husband were among those he arrested on drug charges. The couple were arrested in December.
The body was found in a plaza beside a black marble monument to officers killed in the line of duty, Parker said. The monument is located at the main entrance to the Jefferson County courthouse, which was closed at the time of the shooting.
Investigators searching for a possible shooter blocked off roads around the area, but the search was called off after investigators determined what had happened.
The Jefferson County sheriff’s office said it was unaware of Sorrell having any official business at the courthouse or neighboring jail. His car was found in a parking garage across the street.
Parrish, with about 1,400 residents, is in Walker County about 45 miles from Birmingham.