Man shoots brother after mistaking him for a deer

Gabrielle Sorto
Updated ·1 min read

A man shot his brother during a hunting trip after he mistook him for a deer.

An unnamed Michigan man, 29, was out hunting with his brother, 28. The brothers were looking for a deer that one of them had shot earlier. After they failed at finding the deer, they got separated in dense cornstalks in a field.

The shooter thought he saw the deer moving and fired a shot. He quickly realized he had shot his brother, not a deer, according to a press release posted by the Ionia County Sheriff's Office on Facebook.

He immediately called 911 and walked out of the field with his brother to meet medical first responders.

An investigation at the scene concluded that the shooting was "by all accounts" accidental, police said in a press release.

The victim was airlifted in a helicopter to a hospital and was in "serious but stable condition" at the time, according to the press release.

The exact cause of the shooting is still under investigation, but all involved have been fully cooperative with investigators, police said.