Obama Calls Florida Shooting Death 'tragedy,' Says His Son Would 'look Like Trayvon' President Obama, during a brief Rose Garden press conference meant to announce his nominee for World Bank president, ventured into the high-intensity controversy over the unarmed black teenager fatally shot in Florida -- calling the case a "tragedy" and saying if he had a son, "he'd look like Trayvon." The death of Trayvon Martin, 17, is now under investigation by the Justice Department and FBI. Obama, asked about the case Friday, noted that he doesn't want to interfere with the probe being led by his attorney general, Eric Holder. But he made clear that he empathizes deeply with the parents in the case, and called for investigators to "get to the bottom" of what happened. Obviously, this is a tragedy. I can only imagine what these parents are going through. And when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids. And, you know, I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and that everybody pulls together -- federal, state and local -- to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened," Obama said. He added: "But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon.  The president said "all of us have to do some soul-searching to figure out how does something like this happen." Federal investigators have opened a civil rights probe into the shooting. George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, claimed he shot Martin in self-defense.