President Obama today offered a personal reflection on the tragic shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, saying the incident requires all Americans to "do some soul searching."

"When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids," Obama told reporters when asked about the case during a Rose Garden press conference.

"I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative to investigate every aspect of this and that everybody pulls together - federal, state and local - to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened," he said.

Earlier this week the Justice Department opened an investigation into the incident which took place in an Orlando suburb last month. Martin, 17, was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch captain while he walked down a neighborhood street unarmed.

"I think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen," Obama said. "And that means we examine the laws, the context for what happened, as well as the specifics of the incident.

"But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin: If I had a son he'd look like Trayvon. And I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are gonna take this with the seriousness it deserves and that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened."