Drizzt
March 12, 2003, 04:36 PM
Kinston man accused of shooting into crop duster
The Associated Press
Mar 11, 2003 : 5:21 pm ET
KINSTON, N.C. -- A Lenoir County man was accused of firing three shots into a crop-dusting plane, forcing it to land, authorities said.
Anthony Gene Moore, 36, of Kinston was charged with one count of firing into an occupied vehicle, according to court papers. He was released from jail Monday after posting a $100,000 bond.
The Lenoir County Sheriff's Department police report said the suspect said he shot the plane Sunday "because it was annoying him."
The sheriff's department said the shooting occurred as pilot Don Wayne Slaughter of Farmville sprayed pine trees. The pilot told investigators he heard bullets hitting his plane as he flew at an altitude of about 75 feet. When he looked down, he spotted a man on the ground firing a rifle at him.
Three bullets hit his plane. Two passed through the plane's left wing, while a third shot penetrated the plane's belly and lodged in its battery, causing it to explode.
Slaughter flew the damaged plane, identified as a 1986 AT 301 Air Tractor, to the Global TransPark near Kinston and notified the sheriff's department. Slaughter was not injured. Investigators say they confiscated a rifle and several cartridge casings at Moore's house.
John Davis, a local certified flight instructor, said the damage to the plane probably wasn't enough to put it or its pilot in any immediate danger.
"A bullet through the pilot is probably the worst thing that could come out of it," Davis said. "There's nothing to protect the pilot."
http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-330009.html
The Associated Press
Mar 11, 2003 : 5:21 pm ET
KINSTON, N.C. -- A Lenoir County man was accused of firing three shots into a crop-dusting plane, forcing it to land, authorities said.
Anthony Gene Moore, 36, of Kinston was charged with one count of firing into an occupied vehicle, according to court papers. He was released from jail Monday after posting a $100,000 bond.
The Lenoir County Sheriff's Department police report said the suspect said he shot the plane Sunday "because it was annoying him."
The sheriff's department said the shooting occurred as pilot Don Wayne Slaughter of Farmville sprayed pine trees. The pilot told investigators he heard bullets hitting his plane as he flew at an altitude of about 75 feet. When he looked down, he spotted a man on the ground firing a rifle at him.
Three bullets hit his plane. Two passed through the plane's left wing, while a third shot penetrated the plane's belly and lodged in its battery, causing it to explode.
Slaughter flew the damaged plane, identified as a 1986 AT 301 Air Tractor, to the Global TransPark near Kinston and notified the sheriff's department. Slaughter was not injured. Investigators say they confiscated a rifle and several cartridge casings at Moore's house.
John Davis, a local certified flight instructor, said the damage to the plane probably wasn't enough to put it or its pilot in any immediate danger.
"A bullet through the pilot is probably the worst thing that could come out of it," Davis said. "There's nothing to protect the pilot."
http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-330009.html