A 26-year-old man died after a celebratory cannon exploded at a baby shower in Michigan

• Evan Thomas Silva, 26, died after a cannon exploded at a baby shower in Michigan on Sunday.
• The cannon was set off by the party host to celebrate the baby's pending arrival.
• Shrapnel from the explosion hit Silva, and he died at a nearby hospital.

A 26-year-old man in Michigan died following a baby shower on Saturday where a cannon the host set off to celebrate a child's pending arrival exploded.

The incident happened at a home in Genesee County, Michigan, near Flint, according to the Detroit News.

Michigan State Police said in a press release that the homeowner fired off a cannon, not as a gender-reveal event, but was instead intended to celebrate the baby with smoke, a big flash, and a loud noise.

The cannon, which the homeowner told police he had fired off in the past, exploded, causing metal shrapnel to strike Evan Thomas Silva and several nearby cars.

Silva, who was a guest a the party and the only person struck by shrapnel, was taken to a hospital in Flint where he later died.

Police told The New York Times that they believe gunpowder in the cannon may have caused the device to fracture and explode.

"The problem with things like this is when you use gunpowder and you're using some sort of device without regular inspections on them, you may not see a hairline fracture in that device," Lt. Liz Rich said in a separate interview with The New York Times. "There may have been too much gunpowder in there - that's what our bomb squad suspects, that that's the reason the entire thing exploded."

Police are still investigating the incident, but Rich said no charges have been filed.

Michigan State Police did not immediately respond to Insider's request for further information.

A GoFundMe page has been organized to raise money for Silva's funeral.

"He left behind many family members and friends who greatly miss him and are grieving," his family said on the GoFundMe page.

While the cannon was not part of a gender reveal party, similar cannon-like devices and explosives used in gender-reveal events have caused destruction in the past.

At least two such events have sparked wildfires that have burned thousands of acres, and a homemade explosive used to reveal a baby's gender in 2019 blew up like a pipe bomb and killed 56-year-old Pamela Kreimeyer in Knoxville, Iowa.