Aaron Grimwood was killed in a shooting accident yesterday. Photo / Supplied
A teenager was fatally shot by one of his oldest friends in a "freak accident" at a remote South Wairarapa farm yesterday morning.
Aaron Phillip Grimwood, 17, of Carterton was killed by a single shot to the chest from a .22 rifle about 9.30am after an overnight hunting
trip with friends.
His mother, Anne-Marie, last night described him as a "gentleman" who loved cars, driving and anything to do with engines.
His grandfather, Cliff Grimwood said Aaron was a "great boy" in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"They had been hunting all night and they'd only just come back to clean their rifles," he said. "It was his mate that shot him. He's just devastated. It was a freak accident."
A family friend said Aaron had known the teenager who shot him since primary school.
Detective Sergeant Bill van Woerkom, of Wairarapa CIB, said a 17-year-old male had been charged with careless use of a firearm causing death and unlawful possession of a firearm and police were not seeking anyone else.
Aaron was treated by ambulance at the farm in Tuturumuri, 31km south of Martinborough, but died at the scene.
Van Woerkom said police cordoned off a house, interviewed the occupants and seized two firearms.
The Coroner had been notified and a post mortem examination would be carried out.
The family friend, whose boyfriend had planned to go on the hunting trip, said Aaron had two older brothers and two sisters, one younger and older.
He worked with his father, Phillip, at a local concrete works and was popular and known through the Wairarapa.
Rifles like the one that shot Aaron can be bought by 16 and 17-year-olds who have obtained a firearms licence through the police for $123. Licence applicants must score more than 90 per cent on a test about the Firearms Code to pass and demonstrate full knowledge of the seven basic rules of firearms safety.
This is the second time this year the Grimwood family have made headlines. In February, Aaron's brother Reece had his thumb "ground off" in a car crash.
The 21-year-old nearly lost his arm during a 12-hour wait to be transferred to surgery because no ambulances were available.
