An 8-year-old Arkansas boy was shot and killed by his 5-year-old brother Thursday afternoon.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said that deputies responded to the home at about 2 p.m. and found the 8-year-old unresponsive. The coroner was called to the scene and pronounced the boy dead.

“This is a tragic incident that could have been avoided.  I can’t emphasize strongly enough that guns need to be well secured and kept out of the hands and away from children at all times,” Sheriff Lafayette Woods, Jr. said.  “Gun owners that do not properly secure their firearms are just one split second away from one of these tragedies happening in their home.”

Woods told KATV that investigators were tracing the gun to determine ownership. He also said it was loaded when deputies arrived.

The Arkansas Department of Human Services was called in to help conduct a welfare assessment for the children in the house, sheriff’s office said.

The boy’s body has been sent to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.

The sheriff’s office didn’t say if it was considering charges against anyone in the case.

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