From MSNBC, by way of metro NBC station KARE 11:
LITTLE FALLS, Minn. - Morrison County authorities say a 17-year-old boy shooting at a squirrel shot and wounded a woman sitting in her yard.
Witnesses say the woman was in a yard swing near Peavey Lake when she heard a shot nearby and felt a pain in her side.
Deputies were called about 5 p.m. Thursday and found first responders treating the woman for an apparent gunshot wound to her left side.
The deputies found the teen who said he had been shooting at a squirrel. The boy fired a .22-caliber rifle, and the round apparently passed through some shrubbery and struck the victim about 140 feet away.
The woman was airlifted to a Twin Cities hospital. Her condition is unknown.
Sheriff Michel Wetzel says the case will be sent to prosecutors for review.
Deputies were called about 5 p.m. Thursday and found first responders treating the woman for an apparent gunshot wound to her left side.
The deputies found the teen who said he had been shooting at a squirrel. The boy fired a .22-caliber rifle, and the round apparently passed through some shrubbery and struck the victim about 140 feet away.
The woman was airlifted to a Twin Cities hospital. Her condition is unknown.
Sheriff Michel Wetzel says the case will be sent to prosecutors for review.
Dumbass
ReplyDeleteAlways know what's behind what you're shooting at.
Why is this 17 yo boy shooting at squirrel? Is it for fun, which I find appalling, or is it for food?
Some people like the taste of game; I've never eaten squirrel, but I've eaten rabbit, rattlesnake, and of course venison, as well as farmed Buffalo - I really enjoy the taste of Buffalo meat.
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm not going to criticize someone for that. My personal gripe is against those who shoot doves, who do no harm, are beautiful, and which do good.
A chacun son gout.
What is more likely is that someone has had a problem with squirrels being destructive pests causing significant property damage. I suspect that this is an area where that could well be legal. Likewise, I live in an area where we have chronic problems with species like coyotes, among others. Morrison County is in almost the exact center of the state, a fairly rural area. Anything outside of the twin cities of the capital, St. Paul, and the largest adjoining city, Minneapolis, is considered 'outstate' MN (versus Metro).
So, there can be multiple reasons to rid oneself of squirrels, reasons for which I have a certain sympathy. I've had friends who had a couple of hundred dollars of bulb plantings in their landscaping be destroyed completely over the space of a weekend.
Even in the metro, there are chronic, serious problems with vermin like squirrels and 'yotes', skunks, racoon; as well as larger predators occasionally, like cougar and black bear. Deer are a huge problem in even the most urban areas. Part of the charm of living in the center of the northern tier of the 'lower 48' states.
But clearly, that doesn't excuse shooting recklessly or carelessly, no matter how provoked by the little buggers. Squirrels can be cute, but there is another side to them.
I agree about the doves, here where I live we have 2 kinds, wood doves and ringneck doves. We had a nesting pair in our pine tree this last spring, I also just love the sparrows around here, we have the regular house sparrows and also redhead sparrows.
ReplyDeleteFor me, shootin' animals is sick. Kids doin' it for fun is even sicker.
ReplyDeleteShooting squirrels or anything else when there are people, visible or otherwise, in the "killzone" is just plain stupid.
ReplyDeleteI bought a house that had been empty for years. One of the chores was desquirelling it. I had to trap and kill 8 of the little bastards. I think squirrels in the wild are fine. In the city they're rats with bushy tails.
Good thing for the vic that the kid wasn't hunting deer with a notmachinegunsemi-auto weppin like an AR.
...."Squirrels don't have second amendment rights!!!"
ReplyDeleteWho the fuck sold a squirrel a gun, fricking gun dealers....
Bears on the other hand.....