Tuesday, December 07, 2004
BY MATTHEW J. DOWLING
Star-Ledger Staff
Shotgun pellets peppered the front of a Warren Township home and pierced
two windows late Friday night in what police believe was likely a missed
shot at a deer by a poacher, authorities said.
Though the residents of the Broken Arrow Road house were home when the
pellets hit, the holes were not discovered until the next morning, said
Watchung Police Chief William Stahl.
"Thankfully, no one was injured," Stahl said yesterday. The greatest
danger was presented by the two pellets that broke through windows on the
first and second floors of the house, Stahl said.
"One broke a picture inside the residence," Stahl said. The broken
picture and the holes in the windows caused the homeowner to call the police
Saturday morning to investigate.
An additional six pellet holes were found in the siding on the front of
the house. The wide blast pattern suggests the shotgun was fired from some
distance away from the house, he said. Investigators believe the shot was
meant for a deer in the heavily wooded area.
"There was a lot of deer tracks around the front and side of the house,"
Stahl said. "It's an area where there is a tremendous amount of deer."
Stahl said several nearby residents reported hearing a loud bang about
10:45 p.m. on Friday night.
Fred Mumford, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection,
confirmed that the state Division of Fish and Wildlife was contacted
regarding the incident because police suspect a deer poacher was involved.
Mumford said the shooting would violate several state laws if it occurred
on Friday after dark in an area where hunting is not permitted like the
residential Broken Arrow Road.
"It's certainly illegal to hunt at night," Mumford said. "It's poaching
and it's dangerous."
In addition, Mumford said, the state's firearms deer hunting season
didn't begin until yesterday. The season ends Saturday.
"There were no shells found," Mumford said. "We'll keep the investigation
active."
Mumford said reports of houses hit by shotgun blasts are rare for the
Division of Fish and Wildlife.
"This is unusual," Mumford said of the report. "It certainly doesn't
happen every year. It's not unheard of, but it's not an annual occurrence."
Toddler showered with glass
In December 2001, a hunter's
errant shot struck a Jeep Cherokee driving on Mount Hermon Road in Blairstown,
Warren
County,
shattering
a window and
showering a toddler with glass.
The 13-month-old girl, Alexa Tironi, suffered a cut to her face. The
hunter, Stephen Christine of Oxford, was fined and banned from hunting in
New Jersey for life. Two other hunters with Christine had their hunting
licenses suspended.
Stray slug goes through classroom
A stray slug from a hunter's shotgun went
through a second-grade classroom window at the Franklin Township Elementary
School
in 1993
while
school was in session. No one was injured by the bullet, which hit a wall
and fell on the floor next to an unoccupied desk.
Mumford said the state maintains a hotline along with the New Jersey
Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs for tips about people hunting illegally and
asked anyone with information about the Broken Arrow Road shooting to call
(800) 222-0465.
Matthew J. Dowling can be reached at
mdowling@starledger.com or (908) 429-9925.
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