Hunter charged in shooting that killed one Ferrum College student, hurt another
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Hunter charged in shooting that killed one Ferrum...
Jason Cloutier is charged with manslaughter, reckless handling of a firearm, and trespassing on county property
Franklin Co. Sheriff’s Office mugshot
Jason Cloutier
Published: November 17, 2009
Updated: November 18, 2009
10:34 p.m.
By Candice Nelson
WSLS Reporter
Conservation Police say the hunter is Jason Cloutier, 31. He’s charged with manslaughter, reckless handling of a firearm, and trespassing on county property.
Cloutier is currently in the Franklin County Jail.
Neither Ferrum College nor the investigators have released the victims’ names yet, but investigators with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries say the woman who was killed is 23-years-old, and is from northern Virginia. The male student who was shot in the hand is at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. He’s 20 years old and is also from northern Virginia.
In a news conference on Tuesday evening, Franklin County Sheriff, Ewell Hunt, answered questions. Hunt said the students were in the woods collecting animals, like turtles, for a science project. The male student had his arm around the female student, so when the hunter fired one shot, the bullet went through her chest and the other student’s hand.
Hunt went on to say Cloutier was the first to call 911.
Ferrum College Police Chief, Libby Legg, said people should be extra careful this time of year when they’re in the woods.
“Everyone in the woods needs to be wearing blaze orange this time of year, even your pets when you’re walking your animal,‘ she said.
She says the college took precautions once hunting season began to warn students about safety.
“An e-mail went out earlier this year. There was some hunting safety discussed with all the students this year,“ Legg explained.
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10 On Your Side’s Candice Nelson is in Ferrum, and will have a full update on WSLS at 11:00 p.m.
7:35 p.m.
From Candice Nelson, in the field
WSLS Reporter
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office says both people shot were Ferrum students.
One of the students shot was a young woman, and has died. Investigators tell us she was shot in the chest.
The other student shot is a young man. He has shot in the hand.
Investigators say a group of three students were walking along an access roads in the woods near the old industrial property about a mile west of campus, on county owned property. They were collecting animals for a science project.
The hunter told investigators that he heard a rustling, then fired once from a high-powered rifle, hitting two of the three students.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office now says they do not know if the hunter was on private or county owned property, and the case is still under investigation.
———-
5:57 p.m.
By Scott Leamon
WSLS Reporter
Lt. Karl Martin with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries tells WSLS that two people were shot about a mile west of Ferrum College.
Martin says the two are listed in serious condition, and the DGIF is trying to verify if both are students.
When WSLS called Ferrum College about the second person shot, college spokeswoman Natalie Faunce would only say she had been told about the one student involved.
Martin says investigators are interviewing the hunter.
———-
5:48 p.m.
We just received an update from Ferrum College.
Spokeswoman Natalie Faunce says a local resident was deer hunting on county owned property, and mistook the student for a deer.
Faunce adds that the shooting happened about a mile west of campus, in an industrial park area. The Game Warden is now handling the investigation.
——-
5:10 p.m.
Ferrum College just sent out an e-mail alert.
It claims the shooting happened off-campus, and there is no danger to anyone on-campus. The alert also says one person was shot.
——
5:03 p.m.
Ferrum College spokeswoman Natalie Faunce confirms to WSLS that a Ferrum College student was shot by a hunter this afternoon.
Faunce said the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office is investigating. When WSLS called the Sheriff’s Office to seek additional information, they told us to call back later.
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Reader Reactions
egs277, it is unfortunate that to stay safe you may have to wear blaze orange in your own woods, but there are those out there that will break the laws and trespass to get that “big buck”. Not all hunters are bad, but there are enough bad ones to give the rest a black eye.
If your neighbor is hunting at 12am, 2am, 5am then he is breaking the law. Do not call the local police about this, call the Department Of Game and Inland Fisheries…the Conservation Police. I have had the honor to work along side these men and women a a few times and can tell you that you wont find a better group of officers! They take their job seriously, and they WILL investigate your neighbor if you make the report. And they will either stop him, or they will charge him with breaking the law. here is the link to their web site to report violations. Their phone number is on there. http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife-violation/
They will do something about your neighbor for you.
It is not OK for this guy to shoot animals on your property, and it is against the law..it does not matter if he is a hunter or not.
I support the right of citizens to own and shoot firearms (when and where legal and safe), and to hunt…but I detest someone who thinks that getting that big buck makes it OK to do anything they want to!
So I have to wear blaze orange to walk in my own woods just because of stupid hunters? Wow, gotta love Virginia. My neighbor can shoot deer right next to my house and it is okay because he is a “hunter”. I am sick of hearing a gun going off at all hours.. 12am 2am 5am 12pm 1pm. Watching him aim his gun looking for deer on my property, it makes me sick. I call the police, and it is okay because he is a “hunter”. He killed an innocent girl, I hope he rots in jail, oh wait this is VA!!! He will just get probation. Virginia is for cold blooded killers… opps I mean hunters.
FC, I have been an instructor for 8 years. I own my own training school here in the New River Valley. If you want to take a class, I will be happy to let you come to one free of charge. If you do not have a firearm, I will let you use one of mine free of charge. I am more than happy to teach the knowledge, skills, and attitute that makes owning, and carrying firearms safe for you, and those around you. I will not plug my school in an open forum, because I think that is cheap and pathetic (the reason I do not use my real name when here). I set up a temporary email account, and you can contact me if you are serious about wanting training. I will check the email for a week to see if you contact me, then I will not check it again. it is; jake.gallows24001@gmail.com
I will let you have a basic pistol class, or a concealed carry class free of charge.
I have not, and will not plug my school in a forum for publicity, and it is sad that you are fixated on that for some reason.
Can you not stick to the subject at hand? Or am I right when I say “if you can not attack the facts, attack the person giving them”?
I will be waiting to hear from you
So Jake Gallows or should I say possibly a wanna be Jake Gallows since you must read alot of comic books(Jake Gallows AKA The Punisher from the Marvel Comic Book series) just where are you a firearms instructor at? I’d like to come in and be an observer of what and how you teach.
DMS, I understand where you are coming from, as you do not like seeing someone judged..but you have to remember you are in a public forum where people come to post their thoughts on a particular subject. If you decide to take part in these discussions, you have to be ready to see people judge others..that is the nature of the beast…and it is the beautiful part of freedom!
The scenario that you described “slipping on wet leaves, gun firing, etc” is the definition of an accident, and yes, that could happen to anyone. What this guy did is not an accident, that is all I am saying. He made a series of deliberate, thought out actions that killed someone…no matter how you spin it, or WANT to see it..its not an accident.
I am sure that he is punishing himself over what happened, and I am sure that what he is feeling is something that I can not imagine..but that still does not mean that he was wrong, and that it was HIS FAULT that someone is dead. He may punish himself, but he still has to face the judgement of his peers, and has to abide by the punishment that they give him. Hopefully, that will be never being a free man again (probably not, but it should).
You said in your last post “The sad part is that this man probably never had anyone teach him the correct way to hunt” That is not true. Because of his age, he would have been required by law to go through the DGIF Hunter Safety Course, and in that course, you are taught the laws, and you are taught NOT TO DO exactly what he did. Not only was he taught that, but he was taught it by a professional Conservation Police Officer. I have been through the class, as required by law, and remembering them covering those exact things!
I see that you are a caring person, and that you have a huge heart that you wear on your sleeve. I applaud that…but I just do not feel the same way about someone acting recklessly and taking the life of another person. What he is putting himself through, simply does not affect me in one way or another. I am only concerned with his punishment for the crime that he ADMITTED to! To me, its all about what happened, and that this young woman would still be alive today if he had followed the rules and the law. In the end, he is the one to blame…nothing changes that!
FC
Wow. I guess if you can not attack the facts, attack the person giving them, right?
If the property was posted No Trespassing, then yes, they were trespassing. But if it were posted No Hunting, then the students were not trespassing. Do you that the property was posted as No Trespassing? I have seen very few county owned lands posted No Trespassing (unless it is used for a particular county activity, such as a dump, vehicle fueling depot, etc)
And I DID NOT SAY IT WAS A STATE PARK, I used that as an example. NOWHERE in my statement did i say it was a state park.
Stop twisting what is said to TRY to make someone look silly..I can promise that you are the only one looking that way.
Jake, you are entitled to your decision the same as I am. No, I do not know this man. It just upsets me that people judge a man for something he did when it could easily happen to them. Yes, a similar incident could happen to you. You could be out in the woods hunting and go to shoot at an animal and slip on wet leaves or whatever and shoot the person next to you. You never, never know what can happen. Like I said, he should be punished and, until you stand in his shoes, you will NEVER know what is going through his mind. He has probably punished himself over and over since the incident happened. He knows he did wrong and he admitted to this.
I come from a long line of hunters and I have hunted myself (yes, I’m female). I know you don’t take the safety off your gun until you are ready to shoot and you make DAMN sure what you are shooting at is an animal. The sad part is that this man probably never had anyone teach him the correct way to hunt.
My only concern is that everyone is calling this man an idiot and stupid. I just hate to see a man get beat down even more when he’s beaten himself up for something he’s done.
Jake…..I’m sure you are loving the free advertising since you are a fire arms instructor but this was not a state park its a wooded tract of land Franklin County purchased for an industrial park many years ago. A sign that reads NO TRESPASSING means exactly what it says no matter if you are on that property hunting deer or frogs.
DMS,
I am not saying he got up that morning and decided to kill someone (my statements do not reflect that in any way)
I AM saying that at some point he made the decision to trespass (break the law) and to do something so stupid that it resulted in the death of another person (again breaking the law in a deliberate manner)
He will be punished, and if justice is fair, he will never breathe free air again. That is what is fair..paying for a life with his life being taken (well, freedom anyway)
I am not judging this idiot because of me being an instructor, I am judging him because HE ADMITTED WHAT HE DID. He told the police that he shot at a sound, etc…And where does anything say I have to have “the right” to judge anyone? I am a human being, capable of free thought, and can arrive at a decision on any subject that I want to…and in this event, I have arrived at the decision (through the facts) that he caused the death of another person through deliberate acts. (not saying that he knew he was killing a person, just saying that everything he did up to, and including pulling the trigger was deliberate..he did not slip and fall and the gun ACCIDENTALLY fired, did it?)
If you do not like what I think, or what I say, that is fine..nothing says you have to agree with me. I do want to ask you though…do you know this idiot? Are you just angry that I am saying he is an idiot, and that his DELIBERATE acts caused someone to die..or do you know him, and just angry that someone is “judging” a person that you are fmiliar with. I am just curious why you are so set on this being an “accident” and taking most of the blame off of his shoulders and leaving it up to a chance happening.
FC
The students were not there hunting. If the property were posted as “No Hunting” then he was trespassing.
If you go to a state park you are not trespassing, if you are there hunting where you are not supposed to, then you are trespassing. The hunting part makes it trespassing.
No, he probably did not target a human deliberately..but he did take aim at an unknown target…that is the deliberate cause. That takes the “accident” out of the act.
Do not make the victims out to be bad guys by saying they were trespassing and not wearing blaze orange (in an area that it was against the law to hunt on..why are you forgetting the facts)..they were on a school project, and then this idiot broke the law (more than once) and caused this event to happen.
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