An 11-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his 9-year-old brother Wednesday in Wayne County, Kentucky State Police said.

Malcolm Pennycuff, 9, was pronounced dead at Wayne County Hospital in Monticello Wednesday evening, according to a release from the Wayne County Coroner's office.

The boy "suffered a small-caliber gunshot wound to the upper chest," the release stated.

"A preliminary investigation is leading us to believe it was accidental," Trooper First Class Don Trosper, spokesman for the state police post in London, said Wednesday night.

By Thursday morning, Trosper had a few more details about the shooting.

The boys' father returned home about 5 p.m. and "sometime after that the 11-year-old came to him and said he had shot the 9-year-old," Trosper said.

The father called 911 and the emergency crew performed advanced life support, but to no avail.

Malcolm was pronounced dead at Wayne County Hospital at 6:41 p.m., according to the coroner's statement.

The boys were in the house when the shooting happened, but Trosper didn't know where in the house.

"Somehow these children got a hold of a rifle and somehow the rifle discharged," he said.

The house, on Old Bethel Church Road, is about 4 miles west of Monticello, near the Zula community off Ky. 1009.

Trosper did not know if any other adults were in the house at the time of the shooting.

State police would not release the boys' names.

An autopsy was expected to be done Thursday.