18 yr.old non hunter Killed in Paris Me.

[Jose]

The last thing I'm going to say is this.

If that had been my daughter (my ONLY child) I would immediately go into action to destroy this man's life by any means possible.

I'll destroy him financially. I will destroy his family's financial future. I would not seek justice. I would seek revenge.

 

[Lugnut]

The last thing I'm going to say is this.

If that had been my daughter (my ONLY child) I would immediately go into action to destroy this man's life by any means possible.

I'll destroy him financially. I will destroy his family's financial future. I would not seek justice. I would seek revenge.

Everyone has a right to their opinions and I agree with most of yours. God forbid something likethis did happen to my child, I'd certainly want justice and maybe revenge. But I think it would be out of line to destroy his family... he might have a daughter too. What good would that do?

Like an early poster said... he's going to be dealing with it for the rest of his life. I know that if I ever did something like that, I'd be tortured every waking day of my life.

 

[HuntFishSled]

As an Maine outdoorsman and avid hunter I've been trying to find all info I can about this story. There isn't much other than an ongoing investigation, heresay and rumors. Only the man who pulled the trigger knows what happened and while I agree there is negligence it may have been as simple as he missed a deer and bullet carried beyond the target and the rest is a truley sad story. I have read nowhere that he said he was shooting at a horse or anything for that matter, but he may have been.

It always amuses me how people will condemn, pass judgement and react to others comments when no details of what happened are avialable.

I don't understand how anybody can mistake a human for a deer either, but none of us know if that was indeed the case. Scary what some editorials have been written due to this incident.....banning hunting, shortening the season, posting land, etc, etc.

The attached editorial is one of the few printed that was written without a kneejerk reaction.

Maine Hunting Related Tragedy Has Another Tragedy
December 10th, 2006 . by Tom Remington
Megan Ripley was shot and killed near her home on Christian Ridge Road in South Paris last Thursday. Details of the shooting are being withheld by the Maine Warden Service, who is the lead investigator. The reason the Warden Service is withholding evidence is so that when details are revealed they will be facts that will show us all exactly what happened and hopefully why. The death of this young girl is devastating to her family and friends and something that rocks a community.

But there’s another tragedy taking place as well, though not nearly the scope of the death of a young girl. The tragedy is the speculation from people as to what happened and the media running with these kinds of stories. People will talk and rumors will fly but printing this garbage serves no purpose. It is irresponsible of any news outlet to print what some person(s) who wasn’t even there has to say about the shooting.

Unless you were a witness and you knew what was going through the minds of both the shooter and the victim, you have no business spouting off as though an authority and the media has no business printing it. This spin-off tragedy is the result of people making statements to embellish, incite and inflame a story, for what purpose, I don’t know.

We don’t know why the shooter pulled the trigger. We don’t know what the circumstances were that led to the hunter pulling the trigger. For us to sit and speculate that the hunter “mistook” the victim for a deer is irresponsible. There could have been a misfire or any number of things that happened. We just don’t know.

At this juncture, I’ll put my odds on the Maine Warden Service that they will piece the series of events together and come up with a likely scenario that led to the death of young Megan Ripley. In the meantime, let’s not invite trouble by speculating what might have happened and what it will lead to.

Tom Remington

 

[Admin]

It is pretty hard to pass judgement without knowing all of the facts, and still to this day there aren't many.

 

[Scrivener]

It is pretty hard to pass judgement without knowing all of the facts, and still to this day there aren't many.

NONSENSE! This very thread is proof of people passing judgment "without knowing all the facts." It happens everywhere, every day.

Granted, in some cases one does not need to know "all the facts" where what IS known clearly leads to only one rational conclusion. This may even be one of them. The case last hunting season, where the POS hunter shot a man in NH, promised to get aid, but instead fled back to Mass. is one such case.

Another is the farce of a verdict about 15 years ago, when a Maine jury acquitted a "hunter" who shot from the ROAD, aiming at and killing a woman hanging clothes in her own back yard. This peerless nimrod claimed he shot at the woman's white mittens thinking they were the "flag" on a whitetail.

A jury of his equally irresponsible neighbors - truly his "peers" - ratified that cretinous act and acquitted him.

 

[HuntFishSled]

The last thing I'm going to say is this.

If that had been my daughter (my ONLY child) I would immediately go into action to destroy this man's life by any means possible.

I'll destroy him financially. I will destroy his family's financial future. I would not seek justice. I would seek revenge.

What if he tripped over a log, fell down and the gun went off? I mean if we're creating scenerios..........

 

[Jose]

What if he tripped over a log, fell down and the gun went off? I mean if we're creating scenerios..........

He is still responsible. My actions would not change.

 

[cdkayak]

The prosecutors are supposed to be meeting today to determine if charges will filed.

 

[Admin]

Let us know what you hear Chris.

 

[TonyD]

Maine Hunting Related Tragedy Has Another Tragedy
December 10th, 2006 . by Tom Remington
Megan Ripley was shot and killed near her home on Christian Ridge Road in South Paris last Thursday. Details of the shooting are being withheld by the Maine Warden Service, who is the lead investigator. The reason the Warden Service is withholding evidence is so that when details are revealed they will be facts that will show us all exactly what happened and hopefully why. The death of this young girl is devastating to her family and friends and something that rocks a community.

But there’s another tragedy taking place as well, though not nearly the scope of the death of a young girl. The tragedy is the speculation from people as to what happened and the media running with these kinds of stories. People will talk and rumors will fly but printing this garbage serves no purpose. It is irresponsible of any news outlet to print what some person(s) who wasn’t even there has to say about the shooting.

Unless you were a witness and you knew what was going through the minds of both the shooter and the victim, you have no business spouting off as though an authority and the media has no business printing it. This spin-off tragedy is the result of people making statements to embellish, incite and inflame a story, for what purpose, I don’t know.

We don’t know why the shooter pulled the trigger. We don’t know what the circumstances were that led to the hunter pulling the trigger. For us to sit and speculate that the hunter “mistook” the victim for a deer is irresponsible. There could have been a misfire or any number of things that happened. We just don’t know.

At this juncture, I’ll put my odds on the Maine Warden Service that they will piece the series of events together and come up with a likely scenario that led to the death of young Megan Ripley. In the meantime, let’s not invite trouble by speculating what might have happened and what it will lead to.

Tom Remington

This is most responsible journalism I can recall seeing in decades. Some folks could learn a little by this example.

 

[Admin]

Well if they would finish the damn investigation there would be no speculation... Speculation is human nature...

 

[FPrice]

He is still responsible. My actions would not change.

God forbid that you ever have an accident which takes the life of a person who has a relative/friend/casual acqaintance who thinks like you.

 

[FPrice]

NONSENSE! This very thread is proof of people passing judgment "without knowing all the facts." It happens everywhere, every day.

It's more like people spouting off based upon fragments of the story, not the full story itself. True judgement requires a much more complete command of the facts and the ability to apply rational standards in the assignment of responsibiity and any applicable consequences.

 

[cdkayak]

Latest update

http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/008315.html

Hunter charged with manslaughter
By MaineToday.com Staff Report December 15, 2006 11:30 AM

A South Paris man questioned in the Dec. 7 shooting death of 18 year-old Megan Ripley has been charged with manslaughter.

Timothy P. Bean, age 51, of South Paris, was identified as the hunter who was arrested and charged this morning.

According to the Game Warden Service, Bean was dressed in blaze orange and hunting deer in the area at that time and was questioned. The incident occurred during the second week of Maine's Muzzleloading deer season.

This is the first hunting related fatality in Maine since 2004. This is the 11th hunting related firearm injury in 2006, seven of the 11 were self-inflicted, and this one involved a non-hunter.

 

[Admin]

Rut-O, are we to assume he was negligent?

 

[Jose]

God forbid that you ever have an accident which takes the life of a person who has a relative/friend/casual acqaintance who thinks like you.

Responsibility cuts both ways. I accept mine. That's what a man does.

 

[TonyD]

Rut-O, are we to assume he was negligent?

More than likely. Keep in mind that someone WAS going to get charged with something. We still haven't heard anything from the investigation.

 

[cdkayak]

I haven't heard anything else about what the investigators found other than what was published. I pretty much assumed there would be charges based on her proximity to the house and the initial information I got. We'll just have to wait until more info is released.

 

[PatMcD]

Remember this from a Ruger magazine ad back in the 80's? I remembered part of it but had to google it to find the complete verse.




If a sportsman true you'd be
Listen carefully to me.
Never, never let your gun
Pointed at any one;
That it may unloaded be
Matters not the least to me.
When a hedge or fence you cross
Though of time it cause a loss,
From your gun the cartridge take
For the greater safety sake.
If 'twixt you and neighboring gun
Bird may fly or beast my run,
Let this maxim e'er be thine;
"Follow not across the line."
Stops and beaters, oft unseen,
Calm and steady always be;
"Never shoot where you can't see."
Kep your place and silent be;
Game can hear, and game can see;
Don't be greedy, better spared
Is a pheasant, than one shared.
You may kill, or you may miss,
But at all times think of this
"All the pheasants ever bred
Won't repay for one man dead."


I, like everybody else here, do not know the whole story. It was a tragic accident that, like EVERY other firearm-related accident, should never have happened.