The family of the Utah teen who was killed by a stray bullet is no longer angry with the person who fired the fatal shot less than a week ago, a relative said.
“The family doesn’t necessarily want charges filed because it’s a tragedy on both sides,” said Zackary Kempke’s uncle, Cory Hopkins.
Hopkins noted that Zackary’s family initially felt anger over the 14-year-old’s death caused by a group of nearby target shooters, and questioned why the group was not shooting at a backstop.
But the family has since let those feelings go, Hopkins said.
The young victim was in the back seat of his family’s car — driven by his father — when he was shot in the head on a dirt road in a remote region of the Monte Cristo range Sunday, authorities said.
Zackary died instantly as a result of the afternoon shooting.
Police have said the shooting “appears to have been unintentional” and that no charges have been filed.
The boy and his family were in the desolate area to take family photos to send to Zackary’s older brother, who is away in Oregon serving as a Mormon missionary.
Hopkins described Zackary as a spiritual boy who loved video games and the legendary rock band KISS.
“He would dance and play and was a practical joker, active in academics and in plays,” Hopkins said. “Just a good young man.”
The family, Hopkins said, does not want the boy’s death to become a topic in the national debate on gun control.
The identities of the those involved in the shooting have not been released.
With Post wires




