A 10-year-old Wisconsin boy accidentally shot and killed his 14-year-old brother Tuesday morning with what he thought was an unloaded rifle during a game of “cops and robbers.”
The shooting happened at a home in Loganville.
Three boys, 10, 12 and 14 were playing a game of "cops and robbers" with rifles they believed to be unloaded, according to a press release from the Sauk County Sheriff's Office, when the youngest boy aimed and pulled the trigger, striking his older brother in the chest.
"This firearm had the magazine removed but unbeknownst to the 10-year-old a round was in the chamber," sheriff officials said.
The 14-year-old died at the scene.
The three children, who have not been publicly identified, all lived at the home where the shooting occurred, according to the Reedsburg Times-Press.
The boys' father owned the rifle, which was left unattended in the home, the Times-Press reported.
An investigation into the shooting continues.
A study published in the journal Pediatrics in June found that between 2012 and 2014 as many as 5,800 children a year are treated for gun-related injuries every year, and as many as 1,300 are killed.
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