A 14-year-old Utah boy was killed Sunday by a stray bullet from fired from target shooters several hundred feet away, in an incident that officials said appeared to be an "unintentional.”
Zackary Kempke was in the back seat of his family’s car in a remote area of the Monte Cristo range in northeast Utah. He was shot in the head and died, The Deseret News of Utah reported, citing police.
“My brother-in-law heard an explosion in the back seat and turned around and realized his son was gone,” Cory Hopkins, the boy's uncle, told Fox 13 Salt Lake City.
"My brother-in-law heard an explosion in the back seat and turned around and realized his son was gone.”
The shot came from another family who was target shooting several hundred feet away, Dale Stacey, Rich County Sheriff, told the paper. There have been no charges, but an investigation is ongoing.
"The individual involved, as well as witnesses, stated that they did not know there was a road down range and could not see the vehicle as it traveled on the road due to thick brush and trees," a statement from the sheriff's office said.
Hopkins said the family initially felt "some anger about reckless people," the paper reported.
"We've all had time to think, and, you know … that family's going to live with this for the rest of their life," Hopkins said, "and I think that's tragic on that point too."
