A FATHER-of-seven killed in a clay pigeon shooting accident in Co Down has been remembered as "a quiet gentleman".
Police are continuing their investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death of Terry Fitzsimons at a clay pigeon shooting club event near Downpatrick on Sunday.
Mr Fitzsimons, who was in his 60s, was from the Kilclief area near Strangford Lough.
Further details have yet to emerge with police and politicians describing it as a tragic accident.
Mr Fitzsimons died after a firearm was discharged.
The Ambulance Service said it was called to the incident at about 12.45pm on Sunday.
It is understood that the accident occurred at Lough Money, which lies hidden in rocky countryside near Ballyalton, outside Downpatrick.
Emergency services were still in attendance at the popular reservoir, which sits below the Griddle mountain, late into Sunday.
Clifford Barr from the Ulster Clay Pigeon Shooting Association said little was known about the incident except that it "just seems to have been a dreadful accident".
SDLP councillor Dermot Curran said the incident had shocked the community.
"They are a very well known family and I offer my sympathies. He was known as `big Terry' in the area and was a quiet gentleman," Mr Curran said.
His party colleague and South Down assembly member Colin McGrath said he would be contacting police and the council to urge a "full and robust safety investigation" to ensure that such an accident doesn't occur again.
Requiem Mass for Mr Fitzsimons will be held in St Patrick's and St Joseph's Church, Ballykinlar, at 10.30am on Wednesday.
Accidents at clay pigeon shooting events are extremely rare.
According to the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association, a loaded shotgun should always be pointed down the range.
Should it accidentally discharge, the shot will go in a safe direction., the association says.
In 2002, a 21-year-old Co Donegal woman was treated in hospital after a shooting accident at a clay pigeon shoot.
She had been shot in the leg during the event at Glenkeeran forest near Letterkenny.
