WASHINGTON, Iowa — A 17-year-old high school football player was fatally shot in a hunting accident after being mistaken for a squirrel, authorities said.
The victim, Carson Ryan, was a senior at Washington High School and a member of the varsity football team. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Ryan was on a squirrel hunting trip when a member of his hunting party accidentally shot him in the back of the head, believing he was game.
Ryan was transported to UI Health Care Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries. The incident remains under investigation as officials work to determine how the mistake occurred.
Ryan is being remembered by his community as a “bright light,” active in multiple sports and well liked by teammates, coaches, and friends.
Washington’s assistant football coach, Nic Williams, reflected on the loss with words that captured both grief and admiration for the teenager whose life was cut short. “Carson was a fierce competitor in everything he did,” Williams said, according to the local paper. “He loved fishing. He loved being with his friends. But more importantly, Carson was a person of incredible faith.”
His smile and his laugh were contagious. He was loved by so many people: his mom, Heidi, his family and his friends and his teammates, his teachers and coaches and anyone who just got to spend a second with him.”
Around a dozen school districts in southeast Iowa issued formal statements of mourning. Meanwhile, a family friend organized a GoFundMe campaign to help support Carson’s loved ones as they navigated the unimaginable loss.