A northern Virginia teen killed Sunday when a neighbor mistook him for an intruder was born in Dayton and has extensive family connections here.

Caleb Gordley, 16, was shot and killed by a neighbor two houses from his father’s residence in Sterling, Va.

His parents, Shawn and Jennea Gordley of Dayton, told media there this week that they don’t blame the man who shot the teen and believe what happened was an accident.

“He snuck out to go to a party,” Shawn Gordley said Thursday. “It was the first time he ever drank alcohol.”

The teen was intoxicated when he and a friend attempted to sneak back into his house, but mistakenly climbed through a back window of the neighbor’s home, which looks very similar.

The neighbor mistook the boy for an intruder and fired a warning shot, Gordley said. “My son probably thought it was me yelling at him.” When the teen continued towards what he may have thought was his bedroom, the homeowner fired again, fatally wounding him.

Caleb had only been living with his dad at that home since May, his father said. His mother moved back to Dayton recently.

“(Investigators) are 100 percent certain he did not enter with any malicious intent,” his father said. He said the investigation will not be officially closed until autopsy results are final.

In the meantime, the family is mourning their son, a basketball player at Park View High School.

He was cremated Wednesday and a memorial was held in Virginia Thursday night. Next the family will travel home to Dayton to hold a local celebration of his life at the Greenmont Village Hall in Kettering Tuesday evening.

The family has deep roots in Dayton, Shawn Gordley said. He’s a Belmont High School and University of Dayton graduate who previously worked for the Dayton Daily News before moving to the Washington area in 2000.

He said his son loved the Cincinnati Bengals and UD Flyers despite leaving the area when he was 3 years old.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.