Know Your Target

This is just a little reminder that it’s a good idea to actually check your target before you pull the trigger. The drugged up drunk with the red mohawk passed out on your property isn’t really a bird.

Derrill Rockwell told police he grabbed his rifle, the .22-caliber he kept handy to kill rodents around the house, about 5 a.m. Oct. 5 and walked outside to confront it.

The bird. …

It was red, sitting at the top of a hill about 90 feet away from Rockwell.

“His intent was to spook it away,” Deputy District Attorney Jason Conley told District Judge Richard Gurley on Friday.

Rockwell shot once but said he didn’t see the bird fly away. Soon after, he heard a woman’s voice, moaning in pain. Rockwell discovered a 23-year-old woman, with a large red mohawk, with a gunshot wound to the head.

The woman lived. In fact, he drove her to the hospital where he left his name and information with the staff. However, he was not a lawful gun owner since he was a prohibited person for a 1995 attempted burglary. While he did try to cover up his involvement at first, he actually confessed against the advice of counsel who pointed out that the police wouldn’t have otherwise known based on the evidence the woman left behind. For his cooperation, and the fact that the drunk druggie with the mohawk took off after the incident, the prosecutor appears to have cut a deal for a guilty plea on being in possession of the firearm. (h/t Wyatt)