Michigan City hunter escapes barrage of gunfire

Font Size:

BY STAN MADDUX
Times Correspondent | Monday, December 01, 2008 | (5 comment(s))

MICHIGAN CITY | Charlie Smith was hunting deer Friday when suddenly the 40-year old Michigan City man thought he had become the prey.

He was hunting in a wooded area at Hitchcock Road and LaPorte County Road 1100 West near Michigan City when bullets from a semi automatic weapon started hitting tree branches around him.

Smith said at least 40 bullets whizzed by him with one flying just a few feet from his head.

''The bullets were flying everywhere around me,'' said Smith.

Smith said he got behind a tree and called a 911 dispatcher, who advised him to stay put until the gunfire stopped.

However, he ran toward his truck when the gunfirequit momentarily, then resumed.

Smith said one of the bullets whizzed just a few feet from his head.

Eventually, Smith said he made it to his truck and started blaring the horn to alert the shooter, who was roughly 150 yards away.

The bullets, though, kept flying.

''I kind of felt I was being shot at at that point,'' Smith said.

When LaPorte County police arrived, officers stopped a passing vehicle occupied by Benjamin Gaurin Jr.

Gaurin told officers he was target shooting and thought a pile of wood chips as a backdrop was adequate to absorb the bullets.

According to police, Gaurin also said he was unaware there was a hunter in the nearby woods.

He apologized and police ruled the case an accident did not arrest him.

''I was shaking so bad when the cops got there and I'm not easily shaken. I've been hunting for years,'' Smith said.

Back to story 5 comment(s)

Please note: Comments from readers will be screened and may not be posted immediately. If you don't see your comment perhaps:

It wasn't clear, concise or focused on the topic in the story.
It was a personal attack, vulgar, explicit or degrading, used actual or implied profanity or contained potentially libelous statements.
It accused someone of being guilty of a crime.
It promoted violence or illegal acts.
It contained telephone numbers or street addresses, or e-mail addresses and links to Web sites other than nwi.com or government agencies.

In no way do these comments represent the views of The Times or Lee Enterprises.

Passionate views, pointed criticism and critical thinking are welcome. Name-calling, crude and profane language and personal abuse are not welcome.

Reader comments will not be edited - they will be approved or declined. They may be used in the print edition of the newspaper.

If you feel a posted comment has violated these guidelines, please email our New Media team the commenter's name, the comment and a link to the article.

For more information please read our Terms of Service.

Yummy Bambi wrote on Dec 1, 2008 1:51 PM:

" Bambi tastes so good... "

Eat Bambi wrote on Dec 1, 2008 1:46 PM:

" Animals were put here so we could eat. Kill 'em all and fire up the grill... "

Bambi wrote on Dec 1, 2008 1:32 PM:

" Now you know how the animals feel, getting AMBUSHED??? Not so fun on the other side is it? Maybe that was a Sign for you to stop Murdering, I mean Hunting. Think about it. "

Wrong Rights wrote on Dec 1, 2008 1:09 PM:

" I told ya so. "

something fishy wrote on Dec 1, 2008 12:09 PM:

" As a long time hunter myself, something seems questionable about this story... "

Back to story 5 comment(s)

Post a comment Once your comments are approved, they will appear here.

Marketplace

Sections

Services

Other Publications

Search