Has anyone heard about this?

Harry Tuttle

March 1, 2004, 08:07 PM

its York PA

a possible explanation would be a check out session with an "inadequate backstop selection"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

York Dispatch

Fishermen flee Susquehanna River shooter
Cops: Someone hid in woods, fired on boaters with high-powered rifle
By ELIZABETH EVANS Dispatch/Sunday News

Monday, March 01, 2004 - A group of fisherman had to flee across the Susquehanna River yesterday afternoon when someone fired numerous shots at them from a high-powered rifle.

"We were hearing the bullets zinging over our heads and seeing them splat in the water next to us," said Martin Slaseman of Fairview Township, who was fishing in a boat with his friend, Thomas Keiper of Etters.

Their flat-bottom boat with an outboard motor was one of about six boats on the water just north of the York Haven Hydroelectric Station, fishing a deep spot in the river known as the honey hole, just below where power lines cross the river.

"A guy in a boat behind us was yelling, 'Are you guys hearing what I am?' We got out of there fast," Slaseman said, over to the Lancaster side where they called police.

Newberry Township Police Chief David Duffy said an officer was in the area and got to the site in about a minute, at 2:16 p.m. He smelled fresh gunpowder in the air and found about a dozen spent shell casings from a high-powered rifle, the chief said.

The shooter had hidden in a wooded area owned by Met-Ed, a couple hundred yards north of the plant, Duffy said. The area is higher than the river, so the shooter would've been looking down at the fishermen.

Slaseman said that at first, he didn't realize the noise he was hearing was gunshots.

"There were lots of shots fired; I couldn't tell you how many. First it sounded like somebody with ... a pneumatic gun for nailing shingles on a roof," he said. It didn't take long to figure out the real source of the noise, once bullets began hitting the water all around them, he said.

"The gun was being shot so fast I'd imagine it was some form of rifle with a banana clip, because it was that many shots."

Duffy said it's possible the rifle used did have a banana-type ammunition clip.

"But you can also pull a trigger pretty fast," he said.

Township police searched the area on foot and in a state police helicopter, assisted by officers from the state Fish and Boat Commission and Northeastern Regional Police officers, but the shooter wasn't found, Duffy said.

"Our vests won't stop those (kinds of bullets). But the officers knew what they were doing: We try to draw fire away from innocent people to us ... if somebody's crazy enough to shoot at innocent people."

Duffy said the shooter should understand he was risking his own life.

"If we were to find a person doing this, we would give him the opportunity to stop. But if he didn't, we'd end it for him," he said. "There would be a rapid -- and possibly deadly -- response from police if he continues to shoot at innocent people."

Duffy said it's unlikely the shooting was accidental. He doesn't know whether the shooter was a juvenile or an adult, only the type of rifle he used and where he stood when he fired.

"We have very little information beyond that," he said. "We're hoping somebody starts talking and it gets back to us, or that somebody will see it in the paper and remember that a family member or friend took a rifle out yesterday."

Duffy said his department communicates regularly with other area departments, state police and the Fish and Boat Commission, and have not heard of any other incidents like this along the river.

"We've had complaints over the years of shootings, but they're usually related to hunting," he said.

Duffy said people don't need to avoid the area.

"There's no reason for us to think this is an ongoing problem and we don't want people to be scared to go out there. We're hoping this was an isolated incident," he said. "We just want people to report anything suspicious that they see or hear."

Slaseman -- who fishes the area year-round -- said he isn't scared to go back to the spot.

"I'd be out today if I could," he said. "But I have to haul hay for my horses."

Slaseman said neither he nor Keiper caught any walleye yesterday.

"It was a bad day," he said.

-- Reach Elizabeth Evans at levans@yorkdispatch.com and Ted Czech at tczech@yorkdispatch.com .