One Less Thing To Worry About

     Everyone knows paddling the Boundary Waters is an awesome wilderness adventure.  But like most adventures the wilderness comes with inherent risks.  Luckily the risk of being shot by teenagers with a a pellet gun isn’t one you’ll have to worry about when canoeing in the BWCA.

Teens arrested after shooting kayaker   Posted:

Jan 18, 2010 2:18 PM CST  

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. – A pair of Spokane Valley teens was arrested Sunday afternoon after they used a pellet gun to shoot a 50-year-old man kayaking on the Spokane River.

Deputies were called to 16800 E. Indiana about 3:45 p.m. Sunday after the two 17-year-old suspects were caught and held by the two kayakers and a neighbor in the area.

The victim told a deputy that he and the other man had been on the river at the Flora Rapids when the he was hit in the back with a pellet, though he was not injured. When the two began paddling to shore, the two teen boys took off running.

The kayakers chased and caught them when the suspects tried to hide rather than continue running.

The neighbor said he had watched the two boys shooting at the kayakers from his kitchen window. When the kayakers began chasing the boys, he went up to the end of Flora Road to head them off.

An investigation revealed the teens had fired four or five pellets at the kayakers before hitting the one man. Both teens were arrested for Aiming/Discharging a Deadly Weapon and Fourth-Degree Assault. 

The teens were released to their parents.

– Spokane Valley Police