Hunter charged in fatal shooting of Ferrum student
Published: November 18, 2009
FERRUM — A hunter faces manslaughter and other charges after authorities say he fired at college students he mistook for a deer, leaving one dead and another wounded.
A Ferrum College spokeswoman says three students were collecting frogs for a biology class at about 4 p.m. Tuesday when two were shot along a trail about a mile west of campus.
The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries says 23-year-old Jessica Goode of Frederick County died after being shot in the chest, and 20-year-old Regis J. Boudinot of McLean was shot in the hand. The third student wasn’t injured.
Sgt. Karl Martin with the department says 31-year-old Jason David Cloutier of Ferrum was charged with manslaughter, reckless handling of a firearm and trespassing.
The department says Coultier claimed he thought he was shooting at a deer.
A spokesman for Franklin County General District Court says Cloutier’s bond was set at $20,000, and he is due in court Dec. 2 for arraignment. She says he does not yet have a lawyer.
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Reader Reactions
Exaclty the image hunters need…an idiot like this doing everything he isn’t supposed to and getting people killed because of it.
BTW - This time of year I do not go into the wood without wearing blaze orange. it’s a precaution worth taking.
Senseless and avoidable.
Anyone who cannot tell the difference between a human being and a deer has no business hunting. (Note: This newspaper story does not mention it, but a News4 TV news story last night reported that the hunter claimed he “heard rustling in the bushes and mistook it for a deer”)
My seven year old son knows that you are not supposed to shoot at “rustling” in the bushes - he knows that a shooter must have a clear, identifiable sight picture before even aiming the gun.
Will you miss a few shots at actual deer by hunting this way? Yes.
Will you accidently kill a human being by hunting this way? No.
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