An Alabama father accidentally shot and killed his own son after mistaking him for a car thief on Christmas Eve. Logan Trammell, 22, drove away from his parents’ home that night in his father’s truck. His father did not know his son was taking the car and mistook him for a thief.

Logan’s father was recording music in an outside camper when he saw the truck driving away.

Logan’s father shot at the car as a warning, WIAT-TV reported. When that failed, he shot directly at the truck. When the truck stopped and he opened the door, he realized he had killed his own son.

“It was just a horrific accident,” Logan’s aunt, Tammy Jacobs, told WIAT-TV. “A horrific accident. My brother thought someone was stealing his truck, never realized it was Logan because he didn’t live down here all the time, he lived with my mom and dad. And he was supposed to be in the bed.”

Jacobs explained that it was not typical of Logan to borrow his father’s car and that his father believed he was being robbed.

“He thought someone was stealing his truck when he saw his truck going up the driveway,”: she said. “And he shot and hollered, and he said it sped up and he shot toward the truck again, and it’s dark, and he said, ‘I shot toward the tailgate, and the truck stopped.’ And he said, ‘I walked up there, you know, hollering, get out, I didn’t know who was in my truck,’ and never realized that it was Logan, until he got the door open, and realized who it was.”

Logan was remembered by his family as an aspiring professional musician who wrote and sung his own songs.

“We got a text around 1 a.m. saying that Logan had passed away from an accidental shooting,” said his friend, Amanda Netherton, according to WSPA-TV. “It’s awful. A stab in the heart.”

The Cullman County Sheriff’s office said it was investigating Logan’s death. It had not yet been officially ruled accidental.

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