GREEN LAKE COUNTY, Wis. — An 11-year-old boy is dead after an older man tried to unload his firearm in the back seat of the vehicle. The firearm discharged, hitting and ultimately killing the boy.
Saturday was the start of gun deer hunt in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin DNR said in a statement the deadly shooting happened on Sunday in the Township of Seneca in Green Lake County, around 9 a.m.
As the DNR explains, the 41-year-old man tried to unload his firearm while it was placed in the back seat of a vehicle. The gun fired into the boy's chest, and he was flown by medical helicopter to the hospital, where he died.
The man with the gun and the boy were members of the same hunting party, the DNR said.
The 11-year-old boy was identified as Easton Thom, Berlin Area School District Superintendent Dr. Emmett Durtschi told local news media.
A Meal Train fundraiser was launched for Thom's family.
