What started out as a fun Fourth of July festivity ended in tragedy when a South Dakota man literally choked to death in the middle of a hot dog-eating contest.

Walter Eagle Tail, 47, of Custer, was one of the six contestants participating in the speed-eating contest, which was held at Way Park in Custer. However, he died Thursday afternoon at a hospital after a hot dog got stuck in his throat during the competition.

Because paramedics at the scene were not able to save Eagle Tail when he began choking, he died after he was transported by ambulance to Custer Regional Hospital.

"There was someone doing CPR when we arrived," Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler told the Rapid City Journal on Monday. "Basically, he probably just suffocated. It got lodged in his throat and they couldn't get it out."

"It all happened within minutes," he added. "I think everybody was pretty well shocked about it."

The Custer Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the contest, canceled a pie-eating contest that was scheduled for the next day.

In response to the tragedy, Custer Area Chamber Executive Director Dave Ressler said the group is "at a loss for words," reports CBS News.

Wheeler said he did not know if organizers will make changes to the contest next year, in wake of Eagle Tail's death.

"Walter was just being Walter, having fun when he entered this contest," said Ardis McRae, a friend of Eagle Tail. "He was just having a good time."

McRae added that Eagle Tail had a good sense of humor and "loved" helping out his friends.

"You could just see him smile and laugh. He was just an outgoing person," she said. "People, they would just smile at the things he was up to. He was just a character."

According to Ressler, Eagle Tail's is the only victim that he could recall who was harmed during the local eating contest.