Hunter and nine-year-old daughter shot dead ‘after being mistaken for deer’

Kim and Lauren Drawdy killed during New Year’s Day trip

Kim Drawdy and daughter Lauren

A nine-year-old girl and her father have been shot dead after being mistaken for deer during a hunting trip.

Lauren Drawdy and dad Kim, 30, were killed as their group attempted to drive the animals to different ground in the US state of South Carolina.

They both died at the scene near the city of Walterboro in Colleton County, the state’s Department of Natural Resources has said.

It remains unclear exactly how they came to be in the shooter’s sights during the incident on New Year’s Day or if they were wearing the bright orange safety jackets recommended – but not mandatory – for hunters in the US.

Speaking on Thursday, Mr Drawdy’s brother, Benny, said the family had been left “devastated”.

He told news channel WCSC: “I couldn’t believe it when I first got the news. I said, ‘It couldn’t be.’ It broke my heart and I couldn’t believe it, a twin brother and now there’s only one left.

“Of all days, ringing in the new year, something like this happens. I got a phone call. They said there was a hunting accident in Walterboro. They thought it was my brother and we come to find out it was.”

David Lucas, spokesman with the Department of Natural Resources, which is investigating the incident, said: “It’s not a thing that happens a lot. Hunting accidents are rare in general, and fatalities even more so.”