A dog fatally shot an American hunter sitting in front of a pickup truck by stepping on a gun in the back seat over the weekend in the central United States, police said.
The animal was in the back of the vehicle where “hunting gear and a rifle” were dumped Saturday when it “stepped on the gun and caused the detonation,” the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office in rural Kansas said.
The victim, a 30-year-old man, was in the passenger seat when the bullet struck him. He “died at the scene from his injuries,” authorities added.
“The investigation is ongoing, but preliminary information indicates a hunting accident was involved,” the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities have not said if the victim was the dog’s owner.
Guns are very common in the United States, especially in rural states. The number of weapons in circulation in the country exceeds the number of inhabitants.
Tragic accidents, in which sometimes children play with guns while shooting, are numerous.