Homeowner: Cop Shot Innocent, Orphaned Fawns in Yard

FOREST LAKE, Minn. - A Forest Lake homeowner says he is livid about an "outrageous, unnecessary ending to a great wildlife story" after a police officer came onto his property at about 7 a.m. on Saturday and shot two orphaned fawns that often slept in the dog house at close range without warning. Jeff Carpenter contacted FOX 9 News about the weekend shooting, saying an officer "brutally gunned down" the twin, 6-month-old fawns his family had come to love thirty yards from his home. Carpenter said he was working in the home office when he was startled by a shotgun blast just outside the garage. At first, he thought frost may have cracked the concrete because of the cold, but he heard another shot ring out a few minutes later near the deck area.

I haven't seen any stories that delve into the ammo. I saw one quote by Carpenter to the effect that the animals "had huge holes blown in them." That indicates either buckshot or slug rounds.

I would almost guarantee the PD has a policy or ROE document that Barney Fife can hide behind, no matter what ammo he may have used. But that doesn't stop this from being one of the more wanton and stupid applications of police power that I've heard of in a while. In my experience, rural cops are more sensitive of property owners rights than this. Unless there serious "in progress" situation nearby they are likely to knock politely and ask permission to be on your land. Nobody should want an armed confrontation, least of all the PD.

. In my experience, rural cops are more sensitive of property owners rights than this.

Unless there serious "in progress" situation nearby they are likely to knock politely and ask permission to be on your land.

To me the property owner rights come first unless as you said "serious in progress situation" is in progress. That subject has been talked about at great length in this thread.

The fact that the officer, police department nor DNR had not contacted Mr Carpenter before the shooting started is disturbing. A knock on the door and a 15 minute conversation about a "hazard" between two sensible people should resolve the problem. If an agreement can't be reached about removing the hazard the next logical step would be a written warning, issuing a summons or even a court order based on how serious is the problem and how quickly it needs to be corrected. As reported in the media there was no attempt to contact the property owner as the first step.

In mid January sunrise doesn't occur until 7:45AM in Forest Lake, MN. In other words at about 7AM it is still dark even on a day with no clouds.

The officer was shooting in a residential area in darkness or semidarkness using his department-issued shotgun. A 12 gauge shotgun is the normal issue, as is 00 Buck Shot. 00 Buck shot is lethal at 100 yards, slugs up to 1/2 mile.

At 7AM on Saturday morning many people sleep in and the entire family is still in bed, yet here was the officer acting like Rambo, putting them in danger because of his actions. No warning, no contact with the homeowner, the officer could have been mistaken for a criminal and his life placed in danger.

As you said it is very unusual for a officer from a rural area to act in this manner.

It has the ring of some kind of power trip on his part and a complete disregard for the safely of humans.

It has the ring of some kind of power trip on his part and a complete disregard for the safely of humans.

Someone downthread mentioed that the DNR could be protecting thier turf. That would explain the order but not the savage and thuggish implementation.

Something I've not seen mentioned on thois site is that Mr. Carpenter is a prominent real estate agent in Forest Lake. I've been on the inside of that business and there is a lot of politics involved, especially in small towns. A lot of money changes hands and things can turn ugly, especially if one of the "Good Old Boys" gets crossed...or even if they just aren't cut in on a good deal. Perhaps someone was carrying a grudge against Mr. Carpenter. Someone who could pull strings. In my hometown the DA was the chief Good Old Boy. He controlled the the zoning board and the Sheriff. If he didn't like you, you could forget about doing business in that town. And he didn't just go after the big shots. Somehow he found out that I was supporting his challenger in an election. To this day I am not sure how he found out. I was fresh out of school and was just a title searcher at the time. He put pressure on my employer, who in turn put pressure on me to reconsider my support. It was rather intimidating. I hate to think of what might have happened if I had done something to really tick him off. A visit from the Sheriff's patrol might have been in the offing. Perhaps they would have found drugs in my car. Or kiddie porn. In the game of how low can you go, small town kingpins can go very low, indeed.

Then again, I'm just speculating. But you get the idea.

It has the ring of some kind of power trip on his part and a complete disregard for the safely of humans.

Someone downthread mentioed that the DNR could be protecting thier turf. That would explain the order but not the savage and thuggish implementation.

Then again, I'm just speculating. But you get the idea.

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