NATCHEZ — A motorist heading home on McNeil Road in Natchez reported the body of a man with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

Adams County Sheriff Chuck Mayfield said investigators are treating the shooting as a homicide.

Mayfield said a call came in at 9:45 p.m. Thursday. The victim’s body was discovered lying in the road approximately 150 yards from U.S. 84.

The sheriff said the victim’s name is being held until his identity is fully established and the family can be notified.

“We have a black male with a single gunshot wound to the forehead,” Mayfield said. “He was shot at the scene where we found him — that’s what the evidence points to. We are still investigating.”

Mayfield said investigators believe there are either one or two suspects. There are no witnesses at this time, he said.

Investigators in the area late Thursday searched for a weapon, which the sheriff said they believe was a handgun.

Mayfield said he doesn’t know if the murder has a connection to recent shootings.

“We don’t have any reason to believe that this person was involved with any of those people,” Mayfield said. “But they are working on it as we speak. We should know more (later today).”

Coroner James Lee said an autopsy would be ordered.

“It was a very close type of shot,” said Lee, who described the homicide as brutal.