Hunting Mass. trooper accidentally shoots woman




NORTON, Mass. (AP) — An off-duty state trooper who was hunting in southeast Massachusetts shot and wounded a 66-year-old woman who was out walking her two dogs when he mistook her pets for a deer.
The woman was shot in the torso while walking on a wooded path in Norton about 5 p.m. Saturday. Police said the trooper called 911 after realizing he had mistaken the tails of the two retrievers for a deer's tail.
The unidentified woman who lives in Norton was taken to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment. Authorities provided no further information on her condition.
State police on Sunday said investigators determined the shooting was an accident. The name of the trooper, who also lives in Norton, was not released because he faces no charges. The investigation continued.

http://news.yahoo.com/hunting-mass-t...220641944.html

Faces no charges? How can this be? Someone who is supposedly very well and regularly trained in the safe use and discharge of various firearms, 1. fails to positively identify his intended target, 2. just guesses where the vitals are (because the tail of a deer - or retriever - is not a vital) and then, 3. RECKLESSLY DISCHARGES a firearm.

If this woman were to die I don't know how anyone could argue against wreckless homicide as his actions (although unintended towards another person) solely and directly would have caused the death.

So is that how it works for everyone involved in "accidental" shootings? They "accidentally" shoot someone at lunchtime and are back in their home for dinner?

Seems to me that there is absolutely ZERO accountability being applied here.