The stepson of Duane Chapman — the man best known as “Dog the Bounty Hunter” from the eponymous reality TV series — shot and killed the star’s step-grandson on Saturday night in an incident that’s being called an accidental shooting.
TMZ, which broke the story Sunday, said the incident happened at the family’s apartment in Naples, Florida.
Gregory Zecca, who is the son of Chapman’s current wife Francie, was reportedly behind the death of his son Anthony, although details are sketchy.
The gossip website, however, said it was being told that the death “was an accidental shooting” and a “freak accident.”
“Law enforcement confirms to us they responded to a call about a shooting around 8 p.m. ET. They haven’t made any arrests and call this an ‘isolated incident.’ The investigation is ongoing,” TMZ reported.
No specific details of what led to the accident were released by the media, law enforcement, or the family.
Zecca became Chapman’s stepson in 2021 after he wed Francie; both parties’ previous spouses had died.
“It was God using us to change people’s lives. It was this love story that God brought us together,” Francie told the Naples Daily News in 2023.
Beth Chapman, best known as Dog’s co-star and sidekick on the hit A&E reality show, married Chapman in 2006.
She passed away of metastatic throat cancer in 2019 in Hawaii, where the show and the couple’s bounty-hunting business was based.
As for Duane’s stepson Gregory, he works with the family on the bounty-hunting team, as well — along with Duane’s daughter with another ex-wife, Lyssa.
“We are grieving as a family over this incomprehensible tragic accident and would ask for continued prayers as we grieve the loss of our beloved grandson, Anthony,” the family said in a statement.
They asked for privacy as they went through the grieving process.
Chapman rose to fame from a bit part from a show called “Take This Job,” another A&E show which focused on people with unusual occupations. Chapman was an immediate hit with audiences — not just because of his occupation, but because of his background as a convicted drug-dealer and murderer.
Chapman told Fox News that it was, ironically, his time in prison that led to his eventual calling.
“While I was in prison, I became the warden’s barber, so that means all the guards were my friends. One guy went to break and run one day, an inmate, and I jumped him and just — the guards were going to shoot him in the back,” he said.
“And as the guard walked up when I was on top of the inmate apprehending him, and he threw down the handcuffs and said, ‘Hook him up, bounty hunter.’ … That is what started the career.”
The initial “Dog the Bounty Hunter” aired from 2004 until 2012, although several spinoffs lasted until 2019.
In addition to his stepson with Francie, the 72-year-old Chapman has 13 biological children.
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