I think I would still take the #8 shot from a 28ga. rather than a .22 long range round.
Hmm... could have been 0.22 magnum. 0.22LR might not suffice for a full-grown raccoon. But then again, they describe a "wounded raccoon", so it might have been 0.22LR.
I know that 12 ga. is .71 caliber and that .410 is .410. How 'big' is 28 gauge? Bigger'n .17 caliber but smaller than .56?
Not many people understand the "gauge" thing. Allow me to bore (pun intended) you with this.
The Gauge of a shotgun is determined in this fashion; a 28 gauge shotgun for example. Take a number of lead balls that will fit into the bore of the gun and will weigh one pound; in this case 28. In the case of a 12 gauge, 12 lead balls that will fit into the bore of the gun weigh one pound. Irrespective of choke (full, modified, etc.), of course. The only exception (that I'm aware of) is the 410. The bore of a 410 is 0.410 inches.
You probably already knew that and, in that case, this falls into the "for what it's worth" category.