Hunter fatally shot by his dad who mistook him for a deer, Ohio police say

A man in Ohio is dead after his father mistook him for a deer during an evening hunting trip, police say.

Andrew Smith, 28, and his father were deer hunting with a group of friends the evening of Dec. 2 in Delaware County, Ohio, WBNS reported.

The group was hunting at dusk in a heavily wooded area where they’d been meeting for more than 20 years to hunt during Ohio’s annual deer gun-hunting week, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Around 5:45 p.m., police say Bradley Smith, 63, mistook his son — who wasn’t wearing orange hunting gear — for a deer and shot him, the newspaper reported. Andrew Smith was pronounced dead at the scene.

The father won’t face charges, police said, according to WBNS.

State law requires hunters to wear visible orange hunting gear from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset during deer gun-hunting season.

The sun set around 5 p.m. on Dec. 2, according to WBNS.

“It’s just the worst kind of tragedy,” a spokesperson for the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office told the Dispatch. “He thought he was shooting at a deer. It was his son.”

Andrew Smith played baseball for Lincoln College in Illinois before graduating and working in Lincoln, Illinois, as a volunteer firefighter, according to an obituary.

He then attended the State of Ohio Fire Academy and graduated in 2018.

Andrew Smith went to work for the Oberlin, Ohio, fire department through 2019 before moving to Columbus and working as an independent contractor until his death.

Delaware County is just north of Columbus.

This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 6:13 AM with the headline "Hunter fatally shot by his dad who mistook him for a deer, Ohio police say."