A Fort Hood soldier has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, saying he shot his friend accidentally while trying to scare away his hiccups.

Fort Hood officials say Spc. Patrick Edward Myers, of Spartanburg, S.C., was sentenced Thursday to 3 1/2 years in military prison. He also was busted to private and will receive a bad-conduct discharge.

Myers fatally shot Pfc. Isaac Lawrence Young in September while they were watching a football game at a Killeen apartment. Myers told police he thought the weapon had dummy rounds and was trying to scare his friend so his hiccups would stop.

Young, of Ash Grove, Mo., was 22.

The case was tried in military court on the Central Texas Army post because the victim and suspect were soldiers.