Utah Teen Killed by Target Shooters While Out With Family

A Utah teen was killed when a round fired by people target-shooting in their back yard went past the target and into the road.

Zackary Kempke, 14, of North Ogden, Utah, was out for a drive with his parents and a family friend on the afternoon of Sept. 23, according to the Rich County Sheriff’s Office. The family was out driving after church to take photos of changing fall foliage to send to Zachary’s older brother, who is in Oregon on a missionary assignment.

The family was heading down a dirt road in a rural area of the Monte Cristo mountain range around 3 p.m. when Zachary, sitting in the back seat, was struck in the head.

The teenager died instantly, the Deseret News reported.

The fatal bullet was fired by one of a group of people target-shooting several hundred feet from the road on private property.

According to the Sheriff’s Department, the shooter and several witnesses said “they did not know there was a road downrange and could not see the vehicle as it traveled on the road due to thick brush and trees.”

There was no solid backstop behind the targets, which is an extremely unsafe practice when firing towards a public road.

The Sheriff’s Office worked with other law enforcement agencies to reconstruct the scene and figure out exactly how the boy was shot. The initial understanding is that the shooting was unintentional.

Once the various law enforcement agencies have collected all the available evidence, the case will be turned over to the Rich County Prosecutor to take to court or dismiss.

‘Very Spiritual’

According to his uncle, Cory Hopkins, Zachary Kempke was “very family-oriented.”

“He was like the center of attention. He was a comic. He liked to make people laugh. You know, but he had a serious side, he was very spiritual,” Hopkins told the Deseret News.

He recalled that Zachary liked video games, and listening to the rock band KISS. He also suffered from Type 1 diabetes.

Hopkins said that the whole extended family was “going to miss his lively spirit.

“And we all just can’t believe that he’s not going to be around.”

Let Go of Anger

Cory Hopkins said that at first, the family’s pain turned to anger at the family which fired the fatal shot. The family was outraged that the other family had been shooting with no backstop between the target and the road.

Hopkins said that the family completely let go of the anger after the initial outrage.

He says the rest of the teen’s family initially felt some anger. They questioned why the group hadn’t been shooting at a backstop.

Hopkins says they have “completely” let go those feelings.

“It was a reaction to the situation, and it was done,” he told the Deseret News.

“We’ve all had time to think, and you know—that family’s going to live with this for the rest of their life,” Hopkins said, “and I think that’s tragic on that point too.”

The Kempkes also said they didn’t want this incident to get used by people looking for ammunition in the ongoing argument about gun safety and gun-owners’ rights, according to an AP article quoted by US News.com.

From NTD.tv

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