At approximately 7 PM, September 25th, a father was relaxing on his sofa while his six-day-old son, Shayne Iverson, was lying on his lap. Shayne’s father, Jeremie Iverson, heard a bang and felt the baby’s head snap. A stray bullet pierced the front wall into the living room, and in the aftermath was a father whose tiny baby had been shot in the side of the head. The bullet that struck and exited his son’s head also grazed Jeremie’s stomach.
The bullet exited the baby’s eye leaving him blind. The infant is in critical condition at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He was flown there from Indiana County which is where the incident took place.
Another child was in the same living area and the mother, Stefanie, was preparing dinner.
Indiana County DA says it appears to be an unfortunate accident. But, is it?
It appears red-tag hunting played a part in this very sad case. Red-tag hunting allows a certain number of hunters to kill deer on authorized properties to protect them from damage done by deer.
In this case, the neighbor, Joe Bosch, allowed two men to kill deer because his crops were being destroyed by deer, and he allows them to kill out of season.
Bosch admitted that his son-in-law was the one who shot the stray bullet that struck the newborn baby, according to an interview he did with TV station, WWLP. The son-in-law said he fired the shot more than 300 yards away. 300 yards is nothing for a rifle since it has the capacity to shoot and kill at least a half-mile away. A .50 caliber is estimated to be effective at about 2.5 miles.
Bosch told WWLP, ” They seen a deer, they seen a couple of them there and they fired, and they seen the dirt flying in the ground, but you can’t tell, you know, it might have ricocheted.”
In Pennsylvania, hunters only need to be 150 yards away from a residence to shoot a deer. They are also allowed to kill across a road as long as the shot is fired at an elevated level. It is a tricky move to accomplish this. Technically, one could be a few feet away from someone if they were pointing and shooting in a different direction.
The law clearly states that hunting is forbidden from shooting toward houses or buildings and they must be aware of their surroundings at all times.
The Red-Tag program gives farmers a specific number of antlerless deer permits which are red in color. Farmers then give the permits to hunters to kill deer from February 1st to May 16th then the program starts again July 1st and runs to September 28th each calendar year except for Sundays. They are allowed to hunt from dawn to dusk.
When you hunt with a rifle, one must KNOW what is behind their target. If you don’t know if there is a home, or a person, you don’t shoot !
The problem, in my opinion, with the Red-Tag program is that it is done outside of hunting season. During regular PA hunting season, the leaves are typically off the trees which enables you to have a better view at what you’re shooting. Currently, trees are full of foliage which makes visibility that much harder to see your target.
Red-tagging is to help farmers help with the destruction by deer. Why can’t this be accomplished during regular hunting season???
Shayne’s mother, Stefanie, said, “He’s fine.” “He lost his vision, but that’s what probably saved his life.” “The bullet came out of his orbital instead of going into his brain.” She said there is no talk of a prognosis, or reconstructive surgery since Shayne is still developing.
A criminal investigation is being taken place but it appears to the DA that the evidence points to an accident. A decision will be made this week whether to charge the hunter or not.
Do you consider this an unfortunate accident?
So sad. Know what is behind what you are shooting at.
I think this is a horrible incident that happened . I’m not sure if it was accident or not. For a bullet to travel through a wall and then go through a baby’s head and come out the eye socket and then graze the father’ stomach, I believe that this Hunter was way too close to the house. II don’t feel that this hunter did this on purpose. I don’t feel it was an intentional act. However, this hunter was negligent in his actions. I think there should be repercussions for those actions. this baby is going to need care for a very long time. This family needs to be compensated for the tragedy that is happening to them and their baby. I can’t even begin to imagine what these parents are feeling and enduring. You come home from the hospital with a brand new healthy baby and through no fault of your own your child is now in a horrific accident and is blind. God bless this child their parents and family.
I can’t begin to express my outrage about this . Hunter did not have it in his head that he was going to injure and blind a baby that day but I also don’t think that he had it in his head to see what was beyond what he was shooting at . I do believe the hunter should be held accountable to some degree. if there are no consequences for his actions , how do we know this isn’t going to happen again ? I would hope the Hunter has true remorse and perhaps reach out to the family . right now the babies welfare is most important and I hope the baby will be ok .
What a sad, tragic story. That hunter had to be within a short distance from their home even to ricochete into the home and into the baby’s head. I hope they charge the hunter with something. It may be an accident but it was still reckless and now he blinded a baby.