Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Errant Bullet Travels 1.5 Miles, Kills Amish Girl
WLWT ^ | 12:01 pm EST December 20, 2011 | WLWT

Posted on 12/20/2011 9:38:28 AM PST by TSgt

FREDERICKSBURG, Ohio -- An Ohio sheriff says a man cleaning his muzzle-loading rifle accidentally shot and killed a 15-year-old Amish girl driving a horse-drawn buggy more than a mile away.

Holmes County Sheriff Timothy Zimmerly said Tuesday that the accident occurred Thursday night when a man fired his loaded rifle to clean it. He says the victim, Rachel Yoder of Fredericksburg, was nearly 1.5 miles away when she was shot in the head.

No charges have been filed.

Yoder was shot while traveling to her home in adjacent Wayne County, between Columbus and Akron. She was riding alone after attending a Christmas party for employees, most under 18 years old, who work at an Amish produce farm.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: amish; banglist; bullet; crime; ohio; rachelyoder; shooting; yoder
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 301-311 next last
To: TSgt

I am so sad. I pray for her faamily.


41 posted on 12/20/2011 10:02:35 AM PST by righttackle44 (I may not be much, but I raised a United States Marine)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Retired COB

Female stole buggy, shot in self-defense and defense of property.

Amish cover up I say.


42 posted on 12/20/2011 10:03:43 AM PST by George from New England (escaped CT in 2006, now living north of Tampa)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: TSgt

There seem to be unanswered questions here.

Most obviously, you would clear a gun by firing it into a backstop, not firing it into the air. Sure, that would be unlikely to hit anything in the country, but you still shouldn’t take the chance.

Second, is it possible for a muzzle loader to shoot more than a mile? It seems unlikely, but I don’t know for sure.

Third, have they done ballistic checks? Does the bullet match the muzzle loader?

Finally, we only have this guy’s word for where he fired from. I should think that, if the ballistics match, they should check that out, too. Did he fire it from where he said he fired it? Might he have fired it from somewhere closer? Does the wound, and its angle, suggest a spent bullet?


43 posted on 12/20/2011 10:03:43 AM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mamelukesabre
"black powder firarms don’t leave rifling marks on the projectile."

Depends on the weapon. Some black powder front stuffers are rifled. Some are smooth bore.
44 posted on 12/20/2011 10:03:58 AM PST by PowderMonkey (WILL WORK FOR AMMO)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Michigan Bowhunter

I like your answer..but could it have happened? Or is there something a-miss here?


45 posted on 12/20/2011 10:03:58 AM PST by Paul46360
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: VA_Gentleman
It was a muzzle loader.

The easiest way to remove the load is to fire it.

Otherwise you have to use a screw and try and screw it into to bullet and pull it out of the muzzle, or you can try and put an air hole on the nipple and try and blow it out.

46 posted on 12/20/2011 10:04:04 AM PST by IMR 4350
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Emmett McCarthy

You’re right.

And firing a rifle to clean it?

Maybe times have changed, but I was taught that firing a rifle requires it to be cleaned. To think of all that time I could have saved...


47 posted on 12/20/2011 10:04:08 AM PST by DPMD
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: George from New England

Sometimes the best plan is to say nothing.


48 posted on 12/20/2011 10:06:26 AM PST by SuzyQue (Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: Fantasywriter

Black powder? 1.5 mi?

Sounds unlikely


49 posted on 12/20/2011 10:09:08 AM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: TSgt

A muzzle loader going a mile and a half?

Hitting a girl in the head?

The odds are off the scale.


50 posted on 12/20/2011 10:09:39 AM PST by Tolkien (Grace is the Essence of the Gospel; Gratitude is the Essence of Ethics.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mamelukesabre
someone is ignorant of black powder

What gives it away, the fact that they're rebuking you by referencing a television show or the fact that they did so sincerely and fully believing that what they see on television is in any way, shape, form or fashion a reflection of the truth?

I learned quick, fast and in a hurry that TV programming only has a passing acquaintance with the Truth and then only enough to attempt to discredit it; the print media is even worse, especially those who claim to be "unbiased" and "factual".

51 posted on 12/20/2011 10:09:48 AM PST by Avalon Hussar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Eric in the Ozarks

Exactly.


52 posted on 12/20/2011 10:09:56 AM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: mamelukesabre; Eric in the Ozarks

Don’t forget that buffalo hunter William Dixon killed a Comanche warrior at 1,500 yards with an aimed shot during the Second Battle of Adobe Walls while using a black powder Sharps buffalo rifle.


53 posted on 12/20/2011 10:10:14 AM PST by Stonewall Jackson (Democrats: "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: TSgt

I'm sure he knew that all guns are always loaded.

That did not help however.

NRA Gun Safety Rules will keep you safer :

Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction

Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot

Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use

NRA T/C CRSO

54 posted on 12/20/2011 10:10:45 AM PST by Uri’el-2012 (Psalm 119:174 I long for Your salvation, YHvH, Your law is my delight.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Anitius Severinus Boethius

no. There is a plastic sabot


55 posted on 12/20/2011 10:10:57 AM PST by mamelukesabre
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: TSgt

The Mythbusters did an episode on free falling bullets. IIRC, they concluded that a bullet shot straight up would not be lethal on a free fall trajectory, but, I believe they did conclude that a bullet returning to the earth in a normal trajectory could be lethal. The primary difference being a free fall bullet would be tumbling and have less velocity where as a bullet returning on trajectory would likely still be spinning and have greater velocity.

Still, in this case, I suspect we may hear more to this story. It seems too improbable to me for a black powder projectile, even a sabot, to carry this far. Suppose the wind would need factored in, but still....


56 posted on 12/20/2011 10:12:01 AM PST by IamConservative ("The ability to speak eloquently is not to be confused with having something to say." - MP Hart)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PowderMonkey

plastic sabots on the rifled ones.


57 posted on 12/20/2011 10:13:50 AM PST by mamelukesabre
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: DPMD
And firing a rifle to clean it?

Maybe times have changed, but I was taught that firing a rifle requires it to be cleaned. To think of all that time I could have saved...

You, like most of us, were taught how to clean a breach-loading rifle. Muzzleloaders are a whole different beast and can't be cleaned in the same way a breach-loader can be cleaned.

58 posted on 12/20/2011 10:13:50 AM PST by Avalon Hussar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: mylife

Believe me, I’m reading every single comment, trying to sort all this out. It’s amazing the level of expertise FReepers bring to such subjects.

I still find it hard to believe the guy fired in the air, or whatever, w’out knowing where the round might go. I was raised by a huge, massive, mega-gun loving/owning father, and he would have kicked this guy’s butt so bad he’d need pillows to sit down on for a month.


59 posted on 12/20/2011 10:15:33 AM PST by Fantasywriter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: TSgt
I call BS. The round will drop a LOT over 1.5 mi, and will lose a lot of its speed. Further, a muzzle-loader does not have the muzzle velocity of a modern rifle. (1300-1800fps compared to 3400-4400 for most modern rifles)

As always, a news article about a firearm is woefully lacking in information.

60 posted on 12/20/2011 10:15:44 AM PST by Teacher317 ('Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 301-311 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson