3 deer hunters are questioned regarding school children being hit by bullets.

[RL]

We all need to think and be carefull.  School children were hit by bullets.  The police are questioning 3 deer hunters who were hunting near the school.  Clearly, they will have both the bullets and the guns and ballistics should determine whether they were the source or not.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/13/texas-school-shooting_n_1145114.html

[RL]

Hmmm.  Well, that link doesn't seem to be working and I don't see an edit option, so here is the AP article.


EDINBURG, Texas — Three deer hunters suspected of possibly firing the shots that wounded two South Texas middle school students were taken in for questioning, but investigators hadn't determined early Tuesday whether the shootings were accidental, reckless or intentional, a sheriff said.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino told The Associated Press that authorities have theorized that the students were hit by "errant or stray bullets" fired from hunting pastures near the middle school, which was hosting outdoor tryouts for the basketball team.

Three hunters were taken in for questioning Monday night but were not immediately arrested, he said. Authorities planned to search Tuesday morning for rifle casings to see if they match the barrel markings on the guns the hunters questioned had in their possession, he said.

"It's undetermined if it was intentional, someone was reckless, or a plain old accident," Trevino said. "We just don't know yet. We're going to continue to see what the three people have got to say for themselves, see if we can piece that together."

Two students, ages 13 and 14, were wounded in the Monday afternoon shootings outside Harwell Middle School near Edinburg.

One was in critical condition Monday night with a gunshot wound in in the back and a bullet embedded in an organ, while the other was in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the armpit, Trevino said.

Even if accidental, investigators will want to know how close the shooters were to the school when they opened fire. Trevino said two hunting pastures are within 600 yards of the school.

Classes were to go on as scheduled Tuesday, but with increased security and counselors available to speak with students, said Edinburg school district spokesman Gilbert Tagle.

At the time of the shooting, one of the boys was going for a layup. The other was waiting his turn to try out, Trevino said.


A number of after-school activities besides the basketball tryouts were going on at the school, including a concert and a faculty meeting, Tagle said. He estimated as many as 200 children could have been on campus.

Classes were not in session when the shooting happened, but the school complex was immediately placed on lockdown.

Harwell Middle School opened just this year on the rural property northeast of Edinburg, which is about 50 miles northwest of Brownsville. Homes line the road approaching the school, but open fields stretch out behind it and to the north.

Gangs have been a problem at the school, said Harrell eighth-grader Samuel Cepeda, 15, and he has worried about security. However, Trevino said investigators do not believe the shooting was gang-related.

The outdoor court where the shooting took place was north of the school complex at an athletic facility that includes a football field, track and tennis courts, said fellow eighth-grader Oziel Garcia, 14.

Eighth-grader Annette Vargas Ugalde, 15, said she was about to board her bus near the gym after school when school officials started rushing students indoors.

"They told us to, `Get inside, get inside,'" she said.

She said she heard no shots but saw a group of people on the outdoor court standing near one boy on the ground. A school nurse tended to him while another boy was sitting up.

Annett said she boarded her bus, and it left.

___

Associated Press Writer Jeffrey McMurray in Chicago contributed to this report.

[Reuben]

almost sounds intentional to me...If the wood line is 600 yards away and the shooter was 50 to 100 yards into the woods that would put the gunman 650 to 700 yards away from point of contact. The ballistic table shows that the average deer hunting caliber will drop over 60 inches at that distance. If the gunman was shooting at a deer or hog the bullet should of dropped and hit brush or the ground. Hitting the ground the bullet could bounce up and still hit someone but this story will be worth following to see what really happened. The gunman could not be shooting uphill because that part of the country is flat land.

Keep us posted...

[RL]

almost sounds intentional to me...

Well, I hope not.  However it turns out, it is not good.

[dub]

One kid could be an accident but two no way. I just want to know was it one bullet or two? I guess one bullet could hit two kids by accident. But that is why you have to think about what is behind the target. I hunt from the ground with a bow but rifles should be shot from an elevation downward or so that bullet can't hit something you can't see.

But this sounds hinky to me.

[charles]

flat terrain, 600-700yds away, 60"bd, and 2 kids. no accident! i would assume it will fall under accidental. might notav seen any deer or hogs. they see a squirell or something in a tree, shoot at it, possibly missing the first shot, shootn a sec time. the article said 1 kid was shot while goin for a layup or something like that in b-ball, so that would put the angle of elevation at bout 10-12ft above the target and with the sec kid shot, if the animal was still in a tree, it could account for the 5ft elevation of the sec kid shot. i know my theory is about as thin as a sewing thread, but it is a viable theory. from just reading the article and not being there in person to see facial expressions or anything. its kinda hard to judge intentinal, accidental or negligence. im sure yaw would say who would shoot a small animal with a high cal. bullet, but i have done it, especially to crows or bluejays. its just my theory, and thats all it is, a theory. i hope that it was not intentional. and i hope the kids will recover soon, and this will teach the shooters to know whats behind the target and this used as a lesson for the rest of us, to ensure whats behind your target, no matteer if your shooting archery or rifle, pistol or shotgun. GUN SAFETY! its not just the button or lever to keep the weapon from firing, it falls under shooting fundamentals aswell.   

[treeingratterrier]

Bet a million its a drug gang deal, they dont hunt next to schools in th evalley, they do hunt gangbangers and do drive bys all the time, its in the paper down here as deer hunters but dont beleive it.

[matt_aggie04]

I could be wrong but I don't see where that it said two seperate bullets.  One bullet I believe injured the first person and directly hit the second lodging in an internal organ.  Ballistics will tell the tale.

[charles]

forensics will tell if it was 1 bullet hitting 2 seperate kids, especially if the bullet was recovered in the sec kid and dna/blood typing shows 2 different types that match both kids. from the article, it does not say to different bullets, but 1 kid shot while in the air and 1 shot on the ground. i would find it hard to believe that 1 bullet could hit both kids. bullets will do wierd things when hitting flesh and bones, but im inclined to say it was 2 bullets, unless witness statements claim only hearing 1 report of a rifle. we all have our theories, so i guess we will have to wait for the results of the investigation to be posted.

[Bryant]

I could be completely off base here, but sounds kinda like two guys may have had an accident, got scared and just threw their hired hand under the bus.



EDINBURG (December 13, 2011)--Two of three men questioned in connection with the shooting of two students at a middle school were target-shooting Monday on a ranch adjacent to the school while the third was an illegal immigrant who was trespassing on the property and hunting with an assault rifle, Hidalgo County authorities said Tuesday.

Authorities previously said all three men were hunters.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino said Tuesday that the two men doing target practice may have been in the right line of fire to hit the students, but it would have been from a distance of about 800 yards.

They were released, but remain under investigation.

Investigators are still trying to determine where the trespassing hunter was and whether he would have been in line with the victims.

He remains in custody.

[RL]

Yes, it turns out that 2 guys were target practicing and one was an illegal alien who was poaching on the property.

But here is what astonded me.  The follow up article today said the landowner had called the school a couple of weeks ago to tell them that lease hunters would be hunting the tract.  Huh?  Really?  Other than to not be alarmed at the sound of gunfire, what did that accomplish?

The school is considering putting up a cinder block wall around the perimeter to protect the kids.  Someone needs to explain that cinderblock won't stop the bullets.

[charles]

reenforced cinder walls will stop a bullet. double rebar with concrete poured through the blocks.

[Reuben]

starting to sound more like accidental...but the illegal is getting rail roaded...

[RL]

the illegal is getting rail roaded...

Well, what I have read so far indicates that he was hunting on land without permission, which is poaching.  He claims he shot a javalena.  Of course, he is here illegally.  I think they are holding him pending the ballistics tests.