An Ohio man shot and killed his son when he mistook him for a deer on a hunting trip, officials said.
Bradley Smith, 63, shot his 28-year-old son, Andrew Smith, while with a group of friends last week in a heavily wooded area just outside the city of Delaware, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
“It’s just the worst kind of tragedy,” said Tracy Whited, a spokeswoman for the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office. “He thought he was shooting at a deer. It was his son.”
The shooting occurred just before dusk around 5:45 p.m. Dec. 2, Whited said.
Emergency crews responded to the shooting but the younger Smith was pronounced dead at the scene.
He had not been wearing any orange shooting gear, which is legally required when hunting during deer season 30 minutes before sunset, the newspaper reported.
His father will not face any charges in his death, authorities said.
This article was first published by The New York Post on 10 December 2020. Lead Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto.
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