Richard "Ricky" Vega grabbed four shells and made his way toward the front doors of a Kmart, clutching a 12-gauge shotgun, storming off to where, nobody will ever know.

He took a step back when he saw police just inside the store, exchanged a few words with them, then wrapped his finger around the trigger and fired into his right temple.

Vega had been a contestant in the internationally popular Hands on a Hardbody contest at Patterson Nissan in Longview when he killed himself Thursday morning after leaving the contest at the beginning of its third day.

The 24-year-old East Texan walked away around 6 a.m., when he politely excused himself just before a scheduled 15-minute break for competitors, a witness said.

Vega went directly to a Kmart across the street, threw a trash can through a window and rushed into the store.

"I saw the big trash can go in. He chunked it through the glass and he went right after it," said Dru Laborde, a program director for KYKX radio and a media participant in the contest. "It was the most surreal thing I've ever seen in my life. In my wildest dreams, I wouldn't have guessed something like this would have ever happened."

Police were called at 5:59 a.m. When they arrived, they saw Vega walking toward the front of the store. He had grabbed the weapon from the store's gun case and had broken into a box of ammunition.

Lying beside his body were two of the shells. He had dropped the third one as he walked toward the front doors.

Tom Crowley, public information officer for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Dallas, said retailers are required to secure guns, but he added that federal law doesn't instruct stores on the type of security.

Local Kmart officials and a corporate spokesman declined to comment and it wasn't immediately clear how Longview's Kmart secures its guns.

Thursday's shooting brought an abrupt end to the 13th annual endurance competition. In a short statement, Patterson Nissan officials said, "This has been a tragic event for Ricky Vega and his family, along with the other contestants and everyone at Patterson Nissan. Mr. Vega's family is in our thoughts and prayers. The future of the Hands on a Hardbody contest has not been determined at this time."

The written statement also said the contest was canceled for this year out of respect for Vega's family.

When asked about how contestants are screened, Patterson Nissan's Marketing Director Jan Maynard said contestants are given a detailed checklist. She did not elaborate.

All signs of the contest, including a large tent, and a contestant tally board, were quickly removed from the dealership's lot and remaining contestants were asked not to talk to reporters.

Gregg County Justice of the Peace Arthur Fort said a blood test will be ordered on Vega, but that an autopsy is not necessary because officers witnessed the suicide.

Mary Flores, a cousin of Vega's wife, said Vega "had no reason to do this at all."

"Everything in his life was going good. Everything," said Flores, who was gathered with other family members outside the Kmart in central Longview. Vega had said he wanted to win the truck for his wife, Chalala. The couple had two children, Riche, 5, and Mariha, 7, who is Vega's stepdaughter.

"I won't let you down. I'm going to win this for you," Flores said Vega told his wife before the contest began.

"He was motivated and feeling good about everything," she said. "Everything was going good for him and her."

Laborde said he had arrived at the contest at 5:30 a.m. Thursday and spoke with Vega.

"He was fine," Laborde said, adding that Vega had said he was in the contest for the long haul and would last until Monday.

"'I'm here until Monday. Everything is fine. No problems,'" Laborde said Vega had told him.

Laborde said he had bonded with Vega, who loved country music and had a large tattoo of praying hands on his arm. The tattoo was a tribute to his father, who committed suicide by hanging himself several years ago, family members said.

"I never saw any indication that something like this would happen," Laborde said. He and other people at the contest site saw Vega walk away, but it didn't seem usual, Laborde said, because people walk away all the time. "This is a good contest. Nobody would ever have seen this coming."

"I saw him go in the store and it wasn't long after that they told everyone to come inside," Laborde said.

Buddy Kennedy, a Hardbody crew person, said he had gone to the bathroom and when he came out, contest officials were telling contestants to go into the dealership for safety.

"They were telling everybody to come back in for safety reasons," he said. "It's sad, sad. Something like this puts a black eye on it."

Maynard, who has overseen the contest for years, said "within minutes" of when Vega walked off, officials had everyone gather inside the dealership. Her eyes swelled with tears and she wiped her face as she struggled to respond.

Vega had been standing at the tail end of the Nissan truck on the driver's side and Laborde was standing behind him with his hand on a camper. Laborde saw Vega walk past him and heard Vega say "excuse me" to another contestant as he walked by him.

Vega had been selected but didn't compete in last year's contest because of a family emergency. Just before he walked away from the truck this year, he had been in the contest for 48 hours.

The contest drew international fame after a filmmaker from East Texas documented the 1995 version in a film released in 1997. Since then, the contest has been copied and modified around the world. It requires competitors to keep at least one hand on a pickup truck as long as possible. It generally has lasted several days.

The last person standing wins the truck and other prizes.

Last year, a Japanese TV celebrity and a Japanese newscaster were media contestants allowed to participate in the contest for publicity but not for prizes. Their appearances were televised in Tokyo.

This year, the British Broadcasting Company was filming the contest and had interviewed Vega.

Regina Clifton of Gulf States Toyota's regional office in Houston said the shooting likely will be considered when the car dealer determines the future of its Tacoma-Thon.

Maynard and Patterson helped North Texas Toyota Dealers develop Tacoma-Thon, their version of the endurance competition. The Toyota event was held in April at the Dallas Auto Show.

The Toyota dealership has started reviewing the success of the program, but it won't have a decision until the fourth quarter of the year, Clifton said.

She didn't hear about the Longview shooting until Thursday afternoon, adding that it probably will be discussed during the Tacoma-Thon review process.

*****

Close reaction

Mike Maris, a Hands on a Hardbody judge, said Vega seemed very normal and that he thought Vega would be in the top five or the top two or three finishers.

"He handled himself very well. He was very calm," Maris said. "The calmer ones ... are not distressed mentally or physically. They are the ones who go the farthest."

Ginger Nimmons, also a judge, was scheduled to start her shift at 8 p.m. Friday. Judges watch to make sure contestants are keeping their hands on the truck.

"Typically ... you don't normally start getting the serious hallucinations until a little bit later, especially somebody so young and in good shape," Nimmons said. — On the Net: Hands on a Hardbody: www.hohb.com

— Jim Hardin contributed to this report.