The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Crime & Courts

July 13, 2011

Sheriff: Shooting in wounding of man accidental

 

PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Crawford County sheriff said Tuesday that the shooting and wounding of a man July 5 at a strip pit north of Mulberry, Kan., has been determined to have been accidental.

Sheriff Sandy Horton said that both the victim of the shooting, Harley Mitchell, 24, of Pittsburg, and witnesses told investigators that Jeffery Hunter, 23, also of Pittsburg, accidentally shot Mitchell with a .22-caliber handgun.

Horton said Hunter apparently had been engaging in some target shooting at the popular swimming hole just prior to accidentally shooting his friend in the abdomen.

Hunter rushed Mitchell to Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg following the shooting and was arrested upon arrival at the hospital for driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving. Pittsburg police reportedly had tried to stop Hunter for speeding and later learned the vehicle involved allegedly struck and sheared off a utility pole in Mulberry while en route to the hospital.

The sheriff said a report was being sent to the Crawford County attorney seeking a misdemeanor charge against Hunter for reckless discharge of a firearm with respect to the shooting. No felony charge would be sought, he said.

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