Boy killed by replica cannon remembered as shy, mechanically inclined

WEST VALLEY CITY — Lucille Hertel is still in shock over the death of her grandson, 14-year-old Robby Ostberg.

"It was an accident that shouldn't have happened. It was just a toy," she said Tuesday.

Robby was killed Monday at his home in Tremonton when a miniature replica cannon he was playing with in his living room either fired or blew up without warning, striking him in the face.

Tremonton police did not release any additional information Tuesday about the circumstances surrounding the death of the teen. An autopsy report isn't expected for several days.

"We don't know all the details yet," his grandmother said.

Tuesday, as family members made funeral arrangements, Hertel remembered her grandson as an extremely shy and quiet boy, but someone who loved to work with engines and take things apart and put them back together.

"He was one of these kids who was very mechanically inclined. He could fix any lawn mower, almost any motor," she said. "He never got into trouble. He wasn't a troublemaker or anything."

The cannon at the center of Monday's incident was given to the boy by a neighbor a couple of years ago. It apparently wasn't uncommon for Robby to wrap gun powder in pieces of tin foil, put them in the barrel and fire them, his grandmother said.

The 6-inch barrel only shot items 2 or 3 feet, his grandfather, Garry Hertel, said.

"He was doing it in the house, so it wasn't anything strong enough to destroy or break anything," Lucille Hertel said. "It was only a 6-inch cannon. ... You wouldn't think it would be able to do anything."

Just after 7 a.m. Monday, with his father in a bedroom and his 16-year-old brother sitting on the couch playing video games, Robby apparently tried to fire the cannon again.

"Evidently, it didn't shoot. He turned it around to figure out why, and it did," Lucille Hertel said. "I guess it kind of blew up and the shrapnel came in his face ... and killed him."

The boy's grandparents said both Robby's mother and father are devastated by the loss.

"His dad didn't know he had (gunpowder) because he thought he had everything locked up and couldn't get at it," she said.

The 14-year-old was not enrolled in school. The Box Elder School District said he last enrolled in school in their district in March of 2011, dropping out of school before completing the eighth grade. His grandparents said they believed Robby was in the process, or had already signed up, to take classes online.

"His father couldn't make him stay in school," Lucille Hertel said. "He just quit going."

A funeral for Robby is scheduled for Friday in Tremonton. An account to help the family pay funeral expenses has been set up at all Wells Fargo locations under the name of Allen Ostberg, the teen's father.

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