'You Don't Go Shooting Towards The Road': 4 Adults Charged After Motorcyclist Hit By Stray Bullet
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Charges have been filed against four adults who prosecutors say struck a passing motorcyclist in the chest with a bullet while they were target shooting.
The Carver County Attorney's office says Blake Azurin Martin, William Azurin Martin, Ian Alexander Stinson and Jasmine Symone Morrow are each charged with one felony count of discharging a firearm that endangers safety.
The charges stem from a June 25 incident in which a man was riding his motorcycle on County Road 40 and Homestead Road in San Francisco Township when he was shot in the chest. The man suffered a serious injury and was taken to Hennepin Healthcare for treatment.
RELATED: Motorcyclist Hit By Stray Bullet In Stable Condition
Sue Olson, who lives along County Road 40, said she was pulling weeds along the road near her home in late June when something above ground stole her attention.
"I heard something fly into the ditch, the woods across the street and I thought at first it was a deer, but then there was no other movement or anything," Olson said. "And then it dawned on me that they had been shooting all day at the top of the hill, and I thought, 'Could a bullet really travel that far?'"
Court documents state four people at this home were firing at a target on top of a pile of logs with nothing but the trees behind it. Around that same time, a bullet hit a motorcyclist in the chest on County Road 40. One person who was shooting told detectives he believed they were firing away from the road, and that he "checked it on Google Maps."
Another homeowner who lives north of the property, just downhill, told WCCO-TV he heard bullets whizzing by overheard.
Investigators said the distance between the gunfire and where the man shot is about 1,200 to 1,900 feet.
"[Those shooters] know this road. They live on the road. They know how busy this road is and you don't, you don't go shooting towards the road," said Olson.
The four people involved fired different weapons. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension analyzed the bullet that hit the motorcyclist to help determine which gun it came from. County Attorney Mark Metz said based on the evidence provided, they will be able to prove which gun fired the bullet that hit the motorcyclist.