A 15-year-old Kingfisher boy died Thursday evening after apparently accidentally shooting himself in a friend’s pickup truck, according to a Kingfisher Police Department report.

Kingfisher Police Chief David Catron said the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has been called in for assistance, but the incident is being investigated as an accidental shooting.

Police arrived at a residence at 1006 S. Ninth St. at about 7:44 p.m. to find a man rendering CPR to a teenage male on the ground outside the passenger side door of a pickup truck.

Police did not provide the name of the teenager, but the Times and Free Press has confirmed he was Luke Strickland, a Kingfisher High School freshman.

Strickland was a passenger in a pickup truck driven by another local teenager when he accidentally shot himself in the chest with a pistol, the driver told police.

The two teens had been driving out on rural roads where they were shooting the gun and then had returned to town and were headed to the home of another teenager, according to the report.

The driver of the truck said after they were done shooting the gun, he had unloaded it, placed the magazine on the truck’s console, cleared the chamber and placed the gun in the driver’s side door pocket.

The driver told police that when they arrived at the other teenager’s house, Strickland asked to see the gun again while the driver was on the phone with the other teenager.

The driver told police that after he disconnected the call, he heard the sound of the magazine being inserted back into the gun and the slide pulled back, followed by a gunshot.

Strickland opened the door of the truck and attempted to get out while the driver ran around the truck to help him and then ran to the house for help, according to the police report.

Casey Graves, a resident of the home, ran out to administer CPR while his wife Jessica Geagley called 911, Geagley told police.

Strickland was transported to Mercy Hospital Kingfisher by Kingfisher EMS, where he was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound to the chest, Catron said.

The driver was taken to the police department to be interviewed and gave police permission to search the pickup truck. The gun was collected and taken in as evidence, Catron said.

“We’re looking at it as an accidental shooting right at this point,” Catron said Friday.

KHS Counselor Paula Leffingwell said Friday morning that comfort and counseling services were made available to grief-stricken students and faculty.

“We have all of our district counselors here, the ministerial alliance provided ministers and our local therapy dog is here as well,” she said, referring to Miriam, the comfort dog provided by Emmanuel Lutheran Church.

“Another therapy dog is coming this afternoon,” she added.