Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Target Practice Causes Close Call For Neighbors
A Summertown couple reported Monday that bullets, unintentionally fired in their direction during target practice, damaged their vehicle and endangered their lives.
The couple summoned Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies to their home around 6:15 p.m. Deputies arrived to find that the windows of their 1999 Ford Explorer had been shot.
The male resident reported that his wife had arrived home around thirty minutes prior. He said that she went inside while he cut the lawn. While working, he said that he heard approximately fifteen gunshots and that some rounds, “whizzed by his head.”
The man said that he got off the mower and that he and his wife heard more shots. He said they stood in the driveway and began to yell loudly, hoping the shooter would hear them and cease.
He reported hearing something hit close to them and realized that a bullet had gone through the vehicle windows.
Deputies report that the bullet first penetrated the driver’s side front window, traveled through the interior, then exited through the passenger window, striking the exterior mirror.
The lead core of the bullet was found lying on the ground beneath the passenger window. Examining the bullet holes, deputies report they lined up in a manner that allowed them to determine the area from which the bullet had been fired.
At a nearby home deputies report two men said they had been target shooting earlier, using a Norinco SKS 7.62 x 39 mm rifle. Their target had been mounted to a metal gate that deputies said was directly in line with the victims’ home.
The men said they had believed they had a good backstop and did not realize other houses might lie along the pathway.
Deputies report the men were surprised and remorseful. They went to the victims’ home to apologize and offer restitution.
The victims told deputies they knew it had been an accident and they did not wish to press charges. Damages were estimated to total $500.
