OCEAN CITY -- Ocean City Police late Tuesday confirmed the remains recovered on the beach at 45th Street early Tuesday morning were those of a 27-year-old, Mt. Airy, Md. man, the victim of an apparent suicide.

Around 7:55 a.m. on Tuesday, Ocean City police responded to the beach at 45th Street in reference to an unresponsive male who was lying on the beach with a rifle in his lap. Officers arrived at the scene and determined the individual was deceased.

The individual’s name is not being released and the next of kin has been notified.

The preliminary investigation revealed the victim died of what appears to be a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police recovered a .22 caliber rifle from the scene. The remains have been sent to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Maryland for an autopsy.

The incident remains under investigation by the OCPD pending the Medical Examiner’s findings.