Man shot and killed by juveniles while bush hogging

[the old grind]

Which field are we talking about? I never thought this happened on Steppie's patch or over his 'hill'. Did you? What were they shooting at, the sky? Heckuva way to miss your target.

 

[wheelbuilder]

just watching the news. they are talking about a woman hit by a stray bullet at the fireworks yesterday and one that was killed at last year's fireworks by a stray bullet.

seems like "stray bullet" is becoming a common term.

They must be new type bullets. None that have left a firearm I was responsible for ever strayed. They went where aimed. Stray bullet to me means irresponsible shooter.

 

[civilian]

Which field are we talking about? I never thought this happened on Steppie's patch or over his 'hill'. Did you? What were they shooting at, the sky? Heckuva way to miss your target.

I thought there was an earlier post of someone in a field that the edges were lower then the middle by 18ft. Can't find it now. Sorry for the confusion on my post, but the events of the OP's orignal post is truly sad. Jon

 

[MossRoad]

They must be new type bullets. None that have left a firearm I was responsible for ever strayed. They went where aimed. Stray bullet to me means irresponsible shooter.

Never had a ricochet?

When I was young, I shot competitively. 50' range with .22s. We shot indoor and outdoor ranges. At every indoor range you could look up at the ceiling above the shooting stations and see rip marks in the ceiling where bullet fragments had returned from the backstop. And if you shoot long enough outdoors, you will see leaves and branches many feet away and off to the sides of the targets flicking around from bullet, dirt and rock fragments.

And most people I've met that hunted squirrels with .22s shot them out of trees. Where does the bullet go?

My wife has a family friend that was shot in the chest with a .22 while standing in his back yard back around 1970. He was maybe 12. He lived. It penetrated his skin and lodged in his breastbone. The shot came from a gravel pit. Almost exactly 5000' away.

 

[the old grind]

I thought there was an earlier post of someone in a field that the edges were lower then the middle by 18ft. Can't find it now. Sorry for the confusion on my post, but the events of the OP's orignal post is truly sad. Jon

Post #123 on the previous page.

Moss, I don't think the guy was killed by a .22 LR ricochet. I'm sure the bullet was found in autopsy and would be telling. This just sounds like kids wanting to shoot tires as a prank.

 

[LD48750]

I disagree...
From what I have read here, I am convinced they were shooting at dinosaurs.

Just as likely as what you came up with.

 

[MossRoad]

Post #123 on the previous page.

Moss, I don't think the guy was killed by a .22 LR ricochet. I'm sure the bullet was found in autopsy and would be telling. This just sounds like kids wanting to shoot tires as a prank.

I know it wasn't a ricochet.

My point was to the other post regarding all shots going where we plan them. No matter how careful we are, even when responsibly shooting, we can't guarantee our shots will always go exactly where we plan.

 

[the old grind]

I disagree...
From what I have read here, I am convinced they were shooting at dinosaurs.

Just as likely as what you came up with.

Do you buy lottery tickets? So the kids beat the odds on an easy pick and the guy on the tractor kinda lost on that one. "Just as likely as what you came up with?" Lots of possibilities, but IMO if the kids couldn't hit whatever they might otherwise have been aiming at I would never have let them shoot unsupervised. Did they even have targets other than 'of opportunity?' What did they shoot at and miss? Lots of details remain unclear. ("Where'd ya get the gun, Johnny?")

btw, at their tender ages I'd much rather/insisted they had done their shooting on a range with adult assistance and/or supervision close at hand for any 'ifs'. Was the older of the two the influencer and the younger a dutiful follower? That happens. As a single parent of an honor student from 18 mos (2 degrees pd off by 40), a former Sunday School teacher of 4th & 6th grade, and having up to five 9-12 YOs fishing my yard weekly I know how the boys at 'that age' can come up with ideas and expect perfect results, say get away with stashing, lying, smoking, etc. Pranks? Yeah, they're up to that. Adult influences and heavily edited YouTube vids can made stuff look fun and easy to some less world-wise. "Lots of details remain unclear."

 

[goeduck]

No one can convince me that those two kids did not aim at the guy on the tractor. This was not a fluke.

 

[jjp8182]

Something about this whole situation has kept reminding me about the Johnny Cash song "I Hung My Head" .... which just hit me again since I heard it playing.

For what it's worth this article: Sheriff: 2 boys shot man on tractor in Oconee Co. ...seems to have some additional information (to include some speculation on the part of the Sheriff in the 6th paragraph as to motive ...or lack thereof) that hasn't been posted here.

The other thing that struck me while listening to the song is that either (at least one) of the boys talked, or they dropped/left whatever firearm they used; otherwise this would likely never have been resolved (or at least not this quickly).

Wouldn't exactly expect witnesses/watchers to have been present (even if there are occasionally people who stop to watch agricultural operations it's not a majority of the time from what I've seen), so that wouldn't have led to a quick arrest or even identifying of suspects. Also, a better than fair chance it would have been called in before the wife reported him missing if there had been witnesses.