A Minnesota man is in jail and facing a string of charges in the shooting that damaged a firefighting aircraft last week. Daniel Pettit, 48, of Orr, was arrested over the weekend after the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant and seized guns and ammunition from his home. He will appear in court this week charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, second degree assault, and felony criminal damage to property. A hole thought to be caused by a bullet was found in an Air Tractor amphibious firefighting aircraft that was working on a fire near Orr. It’s believed the round was taken just after the aircraft scooped water from a nearby lake.
The single-engine air tanker (SEAT) was under contract to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources when the incident occurred. The hole was found after the plane landed at Hibbing Airport. It was one of two SEATs working the fire.
For clarity: This is St. Louis County in Minnesota, not Missouri.
Anyone who shoots at an aircraft should be charged with attempted murder. Just like somebody who shoots at cars.
Absolutely agree. A crop-duster friend encountered the same scenerio by some “hermit-crank” that lived nearby some fields he was dusting. Bullet hole was just aft of the pilot’s seat exiting through the top of the aft canopy, luckily missing anything vital…
And I thought all the dumbasses were down here in Florida.
Come visit Shasta County here in CA….
Unfortunately, about half of this country is dumbasses.
lol . bad people.
Hitting the tail happened because he aimed for the cockpit but didn’t lead enough — or follow through during his shot. I think trying to hit a person with a high-powered rifle is called attempted murder.
Lock him up, and then let the fire department use his house for a practice burn,
Was the wildland fire the Air Tractor was fighting started by a person with blank eyes and a full beard by any chance?
This isn’t making the national news, probably to keep other idiots from joining the “me-too-club”. I hope Avbrief can follow this up as the case gets adjudicated.
Attempted murder full stop. Man, does the picture fit the stereotype.
I’d like to know how they identified him as the culprit.
I would also like to know that. And I would also like to know if imminent domain politics for an AI data center was threatening his life and property.
Not in Orr, MN.
Here’s the map.
https://www.datacentermap.com/usa/minnesota/
I was just up in the Arrow Head region of Minnesota last weekend, about 10 miles south of Orr… There is no data centers being built anywhere near there.
If we know the plane’s position & heading when shot, then the bullet’s entry/exit holes in the plane’s rudder point directly at the shooter.
But we don’t. The damage was only discovered after landing.
Given how many people post about doing their crimes and even directly say what they did to cops that didn’t even ask, there’s a fair chance he told them he did it and showed them the rifle he used.
Well one can wish that that freak’s house is in the next big wildfire
Maybe the shooter was inspired by Warren Buffett!😀
https://www.investopedia.com/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-airline-investment-delta-dal-brka-11977384#:~:text=Warren%2520Buffett%2520Once%2520Said%2520Airlines,B%2520in%2520Delta%E2%80%94What's%2520Changed%253F