Teen Shot While Hunting Hatzel Vela, Live 5 News A Berkeley County
teen was out hunting, but instead he became the target of another
hunter.
Joel Easler was shot more than times by bird shots. Eight of the
tiny pellets are still lodged in his body.
Allen Barnette is the man being charged with the shooting. He was
charged with trespassing and negligent discharge of a fire arm.
In a phone interview, Barnette said he wasn't trespassing, but
admits to shooting in the direction of someone else's property.
Three days after the incident, Easler, 15, was back on the tennis
court, but he said every time he hits the ball he feels a little
pain.
"I was right here sitting down against this tree," Easler said as
he described how the incident started early Saturday morning.
The teen and his father were out turkey hunting, when they say
they saw Barnette approach their fence.
At that point, the teen's father said he whistled three times
trying to get his attention.
"He looked at my direction, squatted down and in just a mere
second, fired his gun in our direction," said Bud Easler, the teen’s
father.
"I just remember feeling like a little burning sensation like
somebody pinching me real hard," the teen remembers.
"At that point, I asked him if he was alright and he said no, he
shot me in the face," Easler.
But it wasn't just his face. The burning sensation was more than
30 bird shots, which pierced the teen's body in several places.
"I'm amazed only eight are still left that the other ones just
bounced off," said the younger Easler.
Bud Easter said he is upset because he could have lost his son
right on their own property, when he said they weren't even doing
anything wrong.
It was all unexpected, surprising and scary, the teen said, but
the scare won't keep him from hunting.
He says he hopes the man who shot him won’t trespass again.
"I really hope that he learned his lesson and he doesn't come
back."
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