AN ELEVEN-year-old boy has been allegedly shot by his 12-year-old sister in a tragic hunting accident in Mississippi over the weekend. 

Police are investigating the incident that reportedly occurred on Saturday, December 2 just after 9:30 pm in Jones County, Mississippi – about two hours northwest of Jackson.

Colonel Jerry Carter, chief of law enforcement with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, confirmed on Tuesday that the young boy passed away, according to the Clarion Ledger.

“It was a young lady that shot her brother. It was in Jones County,” Carter said, adding that the investigation is “sadly ongoing.” 

The two siblings were reportedly hunting rabbits with their 19-year-old step-brother.

The Jones County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.

Officials have said evidence currently indicates that it was a “tragic accident,” the Laurel Leader Call reported. 

The incident allegedly occurred at the children’s grandmother’s house on Alex Knight Road in Ovett, which is roughly 50 minutes away from the Alabama state line. 

As the siblings were hunting, the 11-year-old boy reportedly knelt down and handed his sister a rifle in order for her to shoot at a rabbit. 

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However, the boy allegedly stood up at the same time she pulled the trigger. 

He was allegedly shot in the head with the .22-caliber rifle. 

The boy was transported to Forrest General Hospital in critical condition and later succumbed to his wounds.

While officials have not yet publicly named the two children, family reportedly identified the 11-year-old as Gauge Chancellor to the Laurel Leader Call. 

“Sweet Baby Gauge’s heart was made out of pure gold,” Mary Ellen Parker DuBose, a cousin, said. 

“He was a genuine outdoorsman, but fishing was his favorite. He never met a stranger and had a smile that could make the biggest Grinch melt. He was so very loved and will be missed tremendously.”

Lance Chancellor, the public information officer with Jones County Sheriff’s Department, confirmed to the Clarion Ledger that the incident was a “horrible tragedy.” 

However, he also indicated that the 11-year-old boy’s organs may be donated. 

“Out of this horrible tragedy, some child or children somewhere around the country will receive organ donations that could be the gift of life,” he said. 

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks is leading the investigation into the shooting, alongside the Jones County Sheriff’s Department.