New details have been released from the Morgan Hill Police
Department about the apparent suicide Wednesday near the railroad
tracks between Wright and Central avenues, about 100 yards behind
the Shadow Mountain Baptist Church at 17810 Monterey St.
Gary Carter, 56,
– who is now being described by police as an ex-employee of the
church – apparently shot himself in the right side of the head with
a .40 handgun, which was found beneath his body.
Morgan Hill – New details have been released from the Morgan Hill Police Department about the apparent suicide Wednesday near the railroad tracks between Wright and Central avenues, about 100 yards behind the Shadow Mountain Baptist Church at 17810 Monterey St.
Gary Carter, 56, – who is now being described by police as an ex-employee of the church – apparently shot himself in the right side of the head with a .40 handgun, which was found beneath his body.
Detectives are still investigating the incident and the preliminary investigation indicates that the incident is a suicide, according to news release sent by MHPD.
Just before 10:30 a.m., a 911 call was received from a male witness who said he saw Carter walk to the train tracks and “lost sight of him; seconds later he heard a gun shot,” according to the release.
Police officers responded to the scene at 10:30 a.m. When they arrived, they found Carter – a white adult male – who had a single gunshot wound to his head. Santa Clara County Fire Department officials pronounced him dead at 10:40 a.m.
According to the release, the witness ran to the train tracks following the gun shot and found Carter “had shot himself in the head.”
Shadow Mountain Baptist Church Pastor Kyle Haynes was at the church’s office Thursday, but he and other church officials declined to comment about the incident. On Wednesday, Clark was listed on the Shadow Mountain Baptist Church’s website as the church’s business manager. The website has since been made inactive.
MHPD Cmdr. Joe Sampson said Wednesday there were no immediate signs of foul play, though the coroner must complete its investigation before declaring an official cause of death.
At 12:30 p.m. Wednesday several Morgan Hill police officers, the coroner and several Crime Scene Investigators were at the scene. The body was not covered yet and was lying face down, the head toward the tracks. Carter was wearing a dark jacket with the racing logo NHRA on the back.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department also responded to a call of a body near the railroad tracks after a concerned passenger on a passing Amtrak train called 911 and said they saw a body outside. MHPD were en route to the scene when that call was placed, Sampson said.
According to the Shadow Baptist website, Carter was born in Phoenix in 1954 and was raised in California until moving to Australia with his family at age 11.
“He was saved in an independent Baptist church at age 13,” the website read. He held a computer science degree from the University of Western Australia. He returned to the U.S. 1981 and held a number of management positions for a variety of banks, the website said.
