SUMMERFIELD, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say former Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Byrd has died after falling off a tractor and falling under the attached lawn mower.

Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes said in a news release that officers were called to Byrd’s home in Summerfield Tuesday evening after someone found his body under the equipment.

Authorities say it appears Byrd was cutting grass when the accident happened.

Barnes says the death appears to be an accident, but the investigation is continuing.

Byrd was sheriff in Hoke County in the 1990s, losing a bid for re-election in 1998.