Thursday, June 4, 2009

School Locked down after man spotted with hunting rifle

Pittsburgh School Locked Down After Man Spotted With Hunting Rifle

PITTSBURGH -- A Pittsburgh elementary school was put in lockdown for a short time Thursday morning after a man was spotted with a hunting rifle.

School spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said a man was hunting deer near Arlington Elementary School along Jonquil Street with a high-powered rifle.

School leaders locked down the school as a precaution, but operations quickly returned to normal. Police were unable to find the man.



I just have to say that I would hate to be that guy. Is it me or are more and more people scared to death of hunters. I've been in a scenario where I thought something like this might happen to me before. We were hunting a corn field for geese next to an industrial complex. We were far enough away to be legal, but the office building called the police, and they came out to check on us. I was scared to death we would make the news, because they had several police cars out there, but thankfully, we didn't. Society complains of over population of geese and deer in urban areas, but they freak out when we try to help.

Now, I'm not excusing this guy. I don't know how close he was to the school or what he was up to. It just seems stupid to lock down a school, but considering these crazy school shootings, maybe it was necessary. I imagine it was a harmless mistake. What do you think? And why is someone hunting deer in JUNE?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess it is "Sixes" on this, Larry. Perhaps the administration at the school over reacted, then again, maybe not. If I have a child going to that school, then they made the right decision. On the other hand, if hunting is legal in the area then there is no harm no foul. I question hunting for deer in June!

SimplyOutdoors said...

There are definitely some things missing from this story that I'm curious about: How close to the school was he? What he is hunting in June?

My brother had a similar experience as you. Him and his young son were target shooting their .22, on a property we were leasing at the time, and even though we were completely legal, next you know he has a state trooper visiting him.

The trooper was very professional, though, and just checked him out real fast and let him go. Apparently someone in a nearby home had called the cops. Once the trooper got there he actually laughed about it, because my bro was doing nothing that even resembled being illegal.