Authorities have identified two people who were shooting targets with rifles in a yard off Bevis Road Wednesday night when an 18-year-old man was shot in the foot.
As of early Thursday morning, victim Kelley Harlow was still in an area hospital awaiting the removal of the bullet that pierced the wall of his single-wide mobile home and travelled through a bookcase before lodging in his right foot.
Investigators returned to the scene Thursday to determine whether any more bullets struck the home or any other areas outside the pile of dirt that the men were using as a firing berm.
Determining that may help officials decide, if one of the identified men is ultimately held responsible, whether a charge of criminal negligence is appropriate in the case or whether a lone bullet ricocheted out of the dirt pile in a fluke of circumstance that might not warrant a charge.
The bullet itself, once removed from the victim, may ultimately help officials determine whether one of the identified men or someone else is responsible.
The men who were identified had been shooting in an area roughly 500 to 600 yards from the Harlow home.
This is not the first time that a stray bullet has injured someone in Jackson County. Some time back, a man was struck by a bullet while he sat in a funeral procession. Authorities determined that someone who was squirrel hunting fired the shot which unintentionally struck the victim in that case.
Law enforcement officials urge people to use extreme caution when using firearms in recreational pursuits.
I suppose in gun-friendly Florida, having a shooting area so close to private residences is no big deal. When people are shot it's no one's fault.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Nice to see you labeling this "trailer trash." Always good to insult the victim.
ReplyDeleteAnd before you come out screaming "LIE"--where does it say the guys shooting lived in trailers and not on an adjacent, private piece of property with a house on it? Or maybe that doesn't matter and they're still trailer trash since that's your dog whistle for icky white folk if they own guns.
As for your insistence on finding fault, here we have guys who seem to have been target shooting responsibly--they had what is apparently a sufficient backstop. The investigation is ongoing to see if one of the ND'd at this guy's trailer, or if they merely had a freak accident where the bullet somehow ricocheted out of/off of the berm.
If the freak ricochet is what happened, then have whoever fired the shot pay for the injury. It doesn't really rise to the level of simple negligence, but shooting is dangerous enough to warrant something closer to strict liability for civil damages. And, yes, of course if it doesn't rise to simple, civil negligence, it certainly doesn't rise to the level of criminal negligence--no matter how much Mike might want to punish these two for having a freak accident.
Right, responsible target shooting always ends up shooting someone. Your idea of responsible reveals that you are indeed a deliverance boy with a toothless grin.
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