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Man charged for shooting fellow hunter

TT/Rebecca Martin
TT/Rebecca Martin - [email protected]
Man charged for shooting fellow hunter

A hunter who shot his friend dead while under the influence of alcohol in September last year has been charged with aggravated manslaughter.

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The accident, which occurred in connection with last year’s hunting season, took place near a hunting shelter in Norrtannflo, outside of Sollefteå in northern Sweden.

At the time of the shooting, three hunters were in the vicinity of the shelter, two outside and one inside.

One of the hunters fired a practice shot at a target and, for reasons that remain unclear, a third person walked into the line of fire and was hit.

When police and an ambulance arrived on the scene at 5.22pm the victim, a 62-year-old man from Härnösand, was pronounced dead.

“It is fairly safe to say that he died at once,” said Börje Öhman of the local police.

According to the prosecution the hunter is guilty of aggravated manslaughter, as he has fired his rifle without making absolutely sure that no one was at risk.

He had been standing behind the open cottage door, firing a shot straight over the courtyard. This he did despite poor visibility and in the knowledge that his two hunting colleagues were still outside.

The man was also under the influence of alcohol when he pulled the trigger.

Christina Nilson-Dag of the Swedish Hunters’ Association (Svenska Jägarförbundet) said at the time of the incident that fatal hunting accidents are extremely rare in Sweden.

“We have 300,000 hunters in the country so it’s a very safe recreational activity. Driving to and from a hunt in a vehicle is probably more dangerous than the hunting itself,” Nilsson-Dag told TT.

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