A 32-year-old was shot and killed by his stepfather during a hunting excursion in Kampong Speu province on Sunday after the older man apparently confused him for a wild pig, according to commune officials.

According to Kong Soeun, the chief of Phnom Sroch district’s Taing Samrong commune, a group of nine people were out hunting together in the area when Say Chhoung, 60, asked Reoun Ra, his 32-year-old stepson, to find the pig and chase it while he lay in wait.

But when Chhoung finally fired his gun at what he allegedly believed was the pig, he shot Ra.

“The father said he had confused his son for a wild pig. He shot him dead. And when he reached the area, and he saw that it was his son, he was so sorry,” Soeun explained.

But commune police chief Seang Sareth said that Chhoung had now escaped.

“We are investigating because even if the stepfather was confused when shooting, why did he have a gun [in the first place?] . . . And now he has escaped.”