11-year-old shot, killed in hunting accident on Thanksgiving Day

POCAHONTAS COUNTY, W.Va (WDTV/Gray News) – An 11-year-old boy was killed in a hunting accident in West Virginia on Thanksgiving Day, authorities said.

Officials with the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources told WDTV the boy was hunting with his father when he was fatally shot.

The shooting happened on Bear Mountain near the West Virginia-Virginia state line. Agencies from both states responded.

The DNR is continuing to investigate the boy’s death and did not say who fired the fatal shot.

The child’s identity has not yet been released.

The death comes after a similar hunting accident happened just four days prior in Wisconsin. According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 11-year-old Easton Thom was shot when a 41-year-old man attempted to unload his firearm while it was placed in the back seat of a vehicle.

The gun discharged and hit the middle school student in the chest. Thom died at the hospital.