LINDSTROM, Minn. (WCCO) – Gathered in the driveway of a Lindstrom home, the older brother and close friends of 15-year-old Billy Showers shared their sadness and stories.

“Like I said, we were going to go hunting this weekend,” said Dominic Faerber. “He was just a big hearted kid, everybody’s gonna miss him.”

Faerber and the others are reflecting on a Showers’ life, which ended too soon.
“I just don’t understand why this had to happen,” Faerber said.

At 9:22 p.m. on Thursday evening, Chisago County deputies took a frantic 911 call from Showers’ rural Lindstrom home. The teen and a 16-year-old friend were home alone when Showers was accidentally shot in the neck by his male friend. The two boys had been checking over a .22 rifle when the gun somehow discharged.

“Accidently, a live round got put into the gun and the juvenile, thinking it was not loaded, ended up shooting him,” said Chisago County Sheriff Rick Duncan.

Duncan said the teen was interviewed and released to his parents following the shooting, which is still under investigation.

Meanwhile, at Chisago Lakes High School, where Showers was a sophomore, principal Dave Ertl dealt with grieving students.

“Our hearts just sink, and you get a sick feeling. Our whole school community has a sick feeling today,” Ertl said.

Counselors and youth ministers were at the school on Friday to help comfort grieving students. Many of Showers’ close friends gathered off school property to better deal with the shock and grief.

Close friend Nick Faerber said he and Showers went duck hunting last weekend and planned on doing more in the days ahead. Faerber said Showers was an avid hunter and was no stranger to firearm safety.

“The .22 was having problems, because we shot targets at the house, maybe he was trying to fix the gun. I don’t know,” Nick Faerber said.