Two dead in apparent accidental shooting

Two brothers are dead in an apparent accidental shooting, then suicide, that took place Sunday night in the 200 block of Magnolia Street just outside of Opelousas.

St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said deputies received the call about the shooting at 11:15 p.m.

Guidroz said Joshua Miller, 27, of New Roads, shot and killed younger brother Jeremiah Miller, 25, of Ventress, before taking his own life.

A witness, who was in the room at the time of the incident, told officers Joshua Miller was “horseplaying” with a handgun he thought was not loaded.

The witness said Miller then picked up the gun and fired, hitting his younger brother in the chest area. After realizing what he had done, Joshua Miller then turned the gun on himself.

“After talking to the witness and from all indications, it doesn’t appear to have been an intentional act to kill his brother,” Guidroz said in a news release.