Police responded to a report of an explosion just before noon on Sunday. Christopher Pekny, from Liberty, New York, was building the device that exploded. He was the future father, according to the police.
Pekny’s 27-year-old brother, Michael Pekny, was injured and was taken to a nearby hospital, state police said.
The police gave no further information about the type of device, except that it had no intention of harming other people.
Earlier this month, a Michigan man died after a small cannon exploded in a baby shower, police said. Although the cannon is not directly related to the baby’s sex, it was fired to “celebrate the baby’s arrival,” Michigan State Police said in a statement.
This most recent death follows the line of other-genre revelations that went wrong, including a 2020 forest fire in southern California and a plane crash in Texas.
After last year’s fire, blogger Jenna Karvunidis – who is widely credited for creating the gender reveal party – went to Facebook to condemn the exaggerated events.
“Stop throwing these stupid parties. For God’s sake, stop burning things to tell everyone about your son’s penis. No one cares, except you,” she wrote.