November 7, 2011
By Kate Mather, OregonLive.com
A 48-year-old Mt. Vernon man suffered non-life-threatening
injuries after he was accidentally shot in the leg today while
hunting elk in eastern Oregon.
William Cearns was riding an all-terrain vehicle with his son and
a friend in rural Grant County nearFox when the ATV lost traction on
a snow-covered road, said Master Sergeant Gordon Larson of the
Oregon State Police.
The younger men, identified as 28-year-old Richard Cearns and
24-year-old Jared Earnest, both of Redmond, planned to walk up the
hill so William Cearns could keep driving, Larson said. As Earnest
got off the ATV, his rifle discharged, striking the vehicle and
hitting the elder Cearns in the lower leg.
Richard Cearns and Earnest carried the 48-year-old several miles
to a staging area, where they met responding officers and
administered first aid, said Sgt. Dan Swift, a spokesman for Oregon
State Police.
State police are continuing their investigation into the incident
and were assisted by Grant County Undersheriff Todd McKinley.
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