Hunter shot by friend after being mistaken for deer
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Law Enforcement was continuing its investigation Thursday of a Tuesday evening hunting accident near Blacksburg during which a hunter was struck in the legs with buckshot.
It’s believed the shooting victim was mistaken for game.
The accident was reported at about 5:52 p.m. Tuesday.
The victim, Timothy Dean Patterson, 48, of Freeman Road, was flown by helicopter for medical treatment. Patterson was listed in fair condition at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center on Thursday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Sgt. John McCraw of DNR Law Enforcement said Patterson was hunting deer on property near Ore Bank Road with his friend Winfred Wayne Jenkins, 67, also of Freeman Road, when the accident occurred.
McCraw, who had not yet had a chance to interview Patterson, said Jenkins was sitting on the road bed when Patterson was walking up the road and was apparently mistaken for a deer.
Patterson was struck in both legs with buckshot from a single round of a 12-gauge shotgun.
McCraw estimated that the two men were just 20 to 25 yards apart when the shooting occurred. McCraw confirmed it was dark or at at least getting dark at the time.
No decisions have been reached yet and the investigation remains ongoing, McCraw said.
While DNR law enforcement knew of only two shooting-related accidents in the region this year, Lt. Robert McCullough of DNR Law Enforcement said, “Any accident is one too many.”
McCullough added, “It’s our goal to prevent all accidents through education and enforcement.”
Unfortunately, he said accidents do occur and this year appears to be “about average.”
“Most years we end up having one or two,” he said. “Some years more than that. Some years none. The ‘none years’ are really rare.”
Firefighters from CKC Volunteer Fire Department and paramedics from Upstate Carolina Medical Center responded to the shooting scene, along with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. DNR Law Enforcement was dispatched to the scene shortly after the incident occurred.
