Child Accidentally Shoots and Kills 71-Year-Old Relative While Deer Hunting in Pennsylvania

A child who was out hunting with his family attempted to shoot a deer and accidentally shot dead a 71-year-old relative in Pennsylvania, the Patriot-News reported.

The shooting happened on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Jackson Township and left 71-year-old William Tripp with a gunshot wound to the head.

Cambria County coroner Jeff Lees told WJAC that the child, who has not been identified, was trying to shoot a deer and missed the shot from 300 yards away.

Tripp died at the scene.

Lees called the shooting “heart-wrenching.”

The shooting occurred on the first day of regular firearms hunting season in Pennsylvania, the Tribune-Democrat reported.

“Statewide, we have hunting-related shooting incidents every year,” state Game Warden Shawn Harshaw told the newspaper. “In Cambria County it’s rare, but it does happen.”

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is investigating the incident, Harshaw said. 

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