James Ryan Bates, 5, whose sixth birthday would have been next week, died Thursday morning in an accidental shooting at his family’s home on Limestone County Road 771 just outside of Groesbeck.

The boy’s stepbrother, John Mark Hill, who attends college in Austin and returned home after learning of the shooting, said Bates and an 8-year-old friend were watching cartoons Thursday morning in a back bedroom where a gun cabinet is kept.

It’s not clear whether the boy shot himself or whether the friend fired the shot.

Hill said friends of his were watching the boys.

Paramedics from Limestone Medical Center EMS were dispatched Thursday morning to the home at 227 County Road 771 described it as a "tragic scene."

Initial reports were that the boy shot himself with a .22 caliber firearm.