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4-Year-Old Shot Dead By Neighbor While Fishing: Family Friend Calls the Shooting a 'Freak Accident

Tragedy has struck Indiana for the fourth time this month. An Indiana sheriff says a 4-year-old boy was fatally shot in the head by an errant bullet while out fishing with his father.

Wells County Sheriff Monte Fisher told The Associated Press on Sunday that Jacob "Jake" Michuda was shot in the head late Friday night while he and his father were fishing from a pier at a pond outside Ossian.

Forty-six-year-old neighbor Bruce Pond is being held on a preliminary charge of reckless homicide and is due to appear in court Monday.

Family friend Trisha Ulmer tells The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne the shooting was a "freak accident."

Fisher tells the Bluffton News-Banner alcohol was involved and that Pond apparently shot at a light on the pier where the father and son were fishing.

The incident is the fourth fatal shooting of an Indiana child in less than a month. A 4-year-old Cedar Lake boy died Thursday after accidentally shooting himself, a 2-year-old Connersville boy died July 14 after accidentally being shot by his 5-year-old brother, and a 6-year-old Martinsville boy died June 30 after being shot by his 11-year-old brother.

According to the Goodwin Memorial Chapel website, Jacob would have turned 5 next month, on Aug. 24.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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