SAN FRANCISCO (TIP): In a bizarre incident, a 43-year-old man in the US shot and killed himself accidentally while taking a selfie with a gun in hand.

The man from Concrete, Washington, who has not been named, accidentally shot himself in the face with what he thought was an unloaded gun.

The man and his girlfriend were at home taking photos of themselves with the gun when the incident occurred on Sunday, Skagit County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Patrol Chad Clark was quoted as saying by the Skagit Valley Herald.

The girlfriend reported that the pair had done this several times during the day, with the man apparently removing the bullets and then reloading the gun multiple times.

After the last time, however, a bullet apparently remained in the gun, Clark said.

The death is being investigated as accidental, Clark said.

The Washington man is not the first to accidentally shoot himself while taking a selfie, or even the first to die doing so. Last year, a 19-year-old from Houston died while taking pictures of himself with a gun and posting them on Instagram. He too thought the gun was unloaded when he held it to his head for a photo.

It has been reported that more people die while attempting to take selfies than in shark attacks.

At least 27 people reportedly died in “selfie-related” incidents around the world last year.

In Russia, where a woman almost died after inadvertently shooting herself while posing for a photo with a gun she had found, the ministry of internal affairs published a brochure instructing citizens on safe selfie habits.

(PTI)