A man accidentally shot and killed his 14-year-old son Sunday at a Sarasota, Florida, gun range and blamed himself for the tragedy, outlets reported.
"The gun didn't kill my boy," William "Clayton" Brumby told CNN. "I did."
According to a Sarasota County Sheriff's statement cited by news outlets, Brumby was firing his weapon at the High Noon Gun Range when a hot shell casing deflected and landed down the back of his shirt. While reaching behind to his back with the hand holding the gun, he accidentally pulled the trigger.
The round hit his son, Stephen Brumby, who was standing behind him, the sheriff's statement said. The father and another son who was present told news outlets the bullet ricocheted off the ceiling before hitting the boy.
The teen later died at the hospital.
"Every round in the gun is your responsibility," the 64-year-old father said to CNN. "When it fires you need to stand to account for it. That’s what I’ve spent the last two days doing, accounting for my operating error."
In addition to Stephen, Brumby's 24-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter were at the range and were unhurt.
"No matter how calm you try to stay, there's no way to wipe the images away from your mind of your little brother bleeding out in your arms," David Brumby, Stephen's oldest brother, told ABC Action News.
As of Monday the Sarasota County Sheriff's Department said there were no charges pending against the father, calling it an "accidental shooting," the Tampa Bay Times reported.
"The families’ only comfort is knowing that He is communing with the heroes of his faith and rejoicing in paradise," read the text on a GoFundMe page set up by the dead teen's mother, Elizabeth Brumby.