A hunting outing in rural Brighton, Iowa ended in tragedy on Saturday, September 27, 2025. Seventeen-year-old Carson Ryan was participating in a squirrel hunt when someone in his hunting party mistook him for an animal and fired a shot that struck him in the back of the head. He was transported to University of Iowa Hospital after emergency responders arrived around 3 p.m., but died of his injuries.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation into the shooting. At the time of initial reports the identity of the person who fired the shot had not been released and it was unclear whether charges would be filed.

Carson was a senior at Washington High School; classmates and community members held vigils, wore the school colors black and orange, and posthumously crowned him homecoming king. If anyone was at the hunt or has information about what happened that afternoon, please come forward to the investigators handling the case.