Two kids grazed by the round.
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Sheriff deputies are warning hunters to use more caution after a near miss with two young children at an in-home daycare center Thursday.
CHEBOYGAN -- Sheriff deputies are warning hunters to use more caution after a near miss with two young children at an in-home daycare center Thursday.
“It sounded like a loud aerosol can exploding or a light bulb exploding,” said Angela Jarvis, owner of Angie’s Country Kids Daycare Center.
Deputies say the hunter was about 400 yards away in an open field behind the home tracking a deer. However, as she aimed and pulled the trigger to shoot the deer, she missed.
“We went around the corner to see one kid holding his chest and another holding his leg and crying ‘It exploded, it exploded, owie, owie,’ and we were like ‘what’s owie, what hurts,’ and they couldn’t explain,” Jarvis said.
What David, 5, and Connor, 3, couldn’t explain was that a stray bullet from a hunter’s rifle had just grazed them. The round from the hunter’s rifle entered the home just below the window in the back of the house. It continued in and out of a tub of toys, through a third wall and ricocheted off of several more items. In the process the round struck the two boys. Fortunately, the two did not sustain any serious injuries.
“Unbelievable,” said Michael Newman, undersheriff for the Cheboygan County Sheriff’s Office. “If you follow the trajectory of the round and where it went and where these children were, this could have been devastating in more than one way.”
And Jarvis agrees the situation could have been a lot worse.
“I was very angry at first at the lady in the field and I voiced my opinion at her and then I calmed down and realized these kids are okay, they’re blessed,” Jarvis said.
Newman says this is a reminder that all hunters should be very aware of their environment.
“Common sense comes into play here, you need to be aware of your surroundings and the background,” Newman said. “You should make sure there are no homes or any other structures around. A bullet can travel for miles and still cause devastating damage.
In addition, Newman says when handling a firearm, an individual should always consider it to be loaded.
While this is considered an accident, Newman says once they complete their investigation, they will turn their findings over to the Cheboygan County prosecutor who will then determine whether any charges will be fired.
