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FeedTeen shot spotlighting in rural Fayette County
Uniontown, Pa. (AP) - A 17-year-old girl was recovering from emergency surgery in late November after being shot on a deer-spotting trip in rural Fayette County by a man frustrated with poaching.
Cortney Snyder was spotlighting with her father, Rick Snyder, late on a Sunday night, when the girl was hit with the spray from a 12 gauge shotgun.
State Police said Jeremy James Pritts, 35, of Normalville, admitted to firing shots because he said he was “frustrated with spotting and poaching in the area.”
Snyder told police that she was in a pickup truck with her father, mother and another person on Foxburg Road when she saw a flash, heard a bang and fell over.
She still has pellets lodged in her fingers, knuckles, right arm and face. She had to undergo open-heart surgery to remove one of the pellets from her heart.
Her sister, Nikki, said her life may have been saved by her thick sweatshirt.
“Where she was penetrated there was thick stitching, and the pellet went through the stitching and slowed it down enough that it didn’t puncture her heart,” Nikki Snyder said.
Pritts was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment. He admitted that he used a 12 gauge Mossberg pump-action shotgun.
Investigators say pellets from the shotgun struck Cortney Snyder in the arms, face, chest and abdomen. Her parents called an ambulance from their nearby home.
Pritts was released on bail two days later following his arraignment. Court records don’t list an attorney for him.
“I’m feeling pretty rough,” Cortney Snyder said from her hospital bed at UPMC Mercy the day after her surgery. “The thing that hurts the most is my chest and my hands.”
This guy should be ashamed of himself, not to mention he could have easily killed someone. Don't get me wrong, I understand the aggravation with poaching but call the PGC or the police. What ever possessed him to shoot at them is beyond me. I hope she recovers fully and relizes that spot lighting is typically a safe pasttime. Spot lighting is legal as long as the game laws are followed.
In most states, spot lighting is not legal. PA should follow suit. She is not the first innocent person to be shot at and will likely not be the last. It's time that PA recognize spot lighting as a dangerous endeavor for law abiding citizens and outlaw it entirely.
Well for now, it is legal and she was not doing anything wrong. Whether spotlighting shoud or shouldn't be legal is a seperate issue. Fact remains she was still shot by someone who obviously was not following the law or what all ethical hunters shoud be taught (i.e. never point a weapon at anyone, loaded or not).
This is just the thing gun control advocates are looking for. More fuel for their fire!! As long as there are irresponsible air heads like this in our ranks it will just get worse.My opinion this fellow should lose all his guns and his right to own any firearm.
EHUNTER & Redneck - Agreed. I also think this guy should get some serious jail time.