Posted on 02/18/2012 8:09:54 AM PST by marktwain
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Forty students from Westlake High School went from taking pictures Friday afternoon to taking fire from target shooters near Utah Lake.
It's a common thing on the western side of Utah Lake: gunfire, on public land, with signs everywhere to let people know to be cautious.
But Friday, the group of students, here on a field trip, came under fire when target shooters bullets got far too close for comfort.
A mother of one of the students recalls a text message from her terrified daughter: "It's been going on for 10 minutes. We're laying on the ground and waiting for police to come," Collette Boden read.
The two men were firing at targets on this hillside, unaware there was a school bus full of children on the other side, down by the water's edge.
When the shooting began, the students were taking pictures and testing water samples. Teachers and bus driver quickly put all the students back on the bus. Twenty more minutes passed before Utah County sheriff's deputies arrived.
"The shooters were not being really negligent or reckless or careless," said Sgt. Spencer Cannon. "They were not aware of the ricochet, and that's one of the risks of target shooting in areas like this: you can have a ricochet that can be dangerous for other people in the area."
The students were a half mile away from where the bullets were fired. Utah County authorities did not cite the two men, who cooperated fully and moved once they realized what was happening.
Alpine School District officials said students take field trips to that area frequently and did not question the location chosen by the teacher and bus driver.
"This was just such a freak incidence," Boden said. "The teachers did their best to handle it the way they could. The concern was the response time. Why wasn't anyone coming?"
Some parents, like Boden, wonder why the Saratoga Springs Police Department didn't respond, since their officers were obviously closer. But that department said they simply weren't dispatched to the scene.
Email: awittenberg@ksl.com
This whole article is silly. I have shot along this stretch of the lake several times. This is a big lake and the road runs along the lake for miles. The road is 100’s of yards or more away from the shore. The hills where people shoot are 100’s of yards or more past the road. I doubt any bullets got close to the kids. The highly doubt the shooters or the kids could even see each other if they wanted to.
People drown in the lake every year but I have never heard of a gun death or gun accident in that area. No utah lake shooting accidents came up on google either.
This would be like living in LA and hitting the floor every time you heard gun shots.
And one of the students was texting, while "taking fire?"
Quick, pass some new laws to protect us..........
It brings to mind an absolutely unnecessary tragedy in Northern Ontario. It was up near Batchewana Bay, about 45 miles north of Sault Ste Marie. Three kids were playing on a fallen tree trunk the other side of a small lake. A family friend was a man whose nick name was Duffy.
He was taking shots with his rifle about 100 feet from the kids to sort of scare them. A bullet flew off the surface of the lake and killed a 12 year old boy. The Ontario Provincial Police carried out tests to validate or not, his story. The sharp shooter for the force found that the bullets would speed off the water. The man got seven years jail. His appeal was turned down. This was about 12 years ago.
Huh?
My reaction exactly.
I think we’ve got an anti-gun nut teaching this class.
Not when driving a Plymouth . . .
Calling in air support...
I actually recall this case. Wow. Forgot all about it.
I certainly do not wish to carry on and over emphasize the point. This certainly does not bring any positive result, re education. I would like to mention prior lack of information can ruin lives.
The "Jet Skis" in use on lakes for recreation lacked safety rules. They were sold willy nilly. Persons drove close to swimmers and canoe users, jokingly trying to splash or scare them. Several fatalities occurred, because of the wide turn needed.
I have no quarrel with conscientious users of fire arms.
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