BERLIN (AP) — A father who shot his 13-year-old son in the leg tells police he was playing "cowboys and Indians" with the boy and was not aware that his air gun was loaded when he shot at him.

Police in the western German city of Dortmund said Sunday they were called to the hospital where the child was undergoing surgery. They said the crying and drunk father explained the two had watched a Western movie and then played "cowboys and Indians."

Instead of taking his son to the hospital immediately, the man first bandaged the wound himself and sent his son to a sports class. Only when the boy's pain developed was the child taken to the hospital.

Police did not reveal the father's or son's name as is customary in Germany.