The hunter heard the woman scream just as he shot his gun, sending him running her way. According to the authorities, the hunter made the 911 call for help and then stayed with the woman until the first responders arrived.
Rosemary A. Billquist, 43, of Sherman, New York, was walking her dogs in a Chautauqua County field when she suffered a single gunshot wound. She was transported to UPMC Hamot Hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, where she died.
According to the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department deputies, the 911 call reporting an accidental shooting came in at 5:24 p.m. on Wednesday. The Sherman Fire Department responded to that call in a field located in the area of 2998 Armenian Road in Sherman.
It is illegal to hunt after sunset, and the sun went down at 4:46 p.m. on Wednesday, which was almost an hour before this shooting took place at 5:24 p.m., according to law enforcement. The hunter, who is identified as Thomas B. Jadlowsk, told the deputies that he thought he saw a deer, which is why he shot his gun. He fired a single shot, and this was when he heard the woman scream.
He ran in the direction of the scream, and when he got to about 200 yards away from where he was originally standing, he found Billiquist. Jadlowski called 911 and applied pressure to the wound until the emergency services arrived, according to the Buffalo News .
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Jadlowski is cooperating with the investigators, and no charges have been filed against this hunter as of yet. The investigation is on-going, with the State Department of Environmental Conservation police deputies joining the local law enforcement in this probe.
Jadlowski accidentally shot Biliquist with a pistol. Dale Dunkelberger, who is a master instructor for firearms for the hunter’s education program for the Department of Environmental Conservation, said that the use of a pistol for hunting deer was not against the DEC rules and regulations.
Dunkelberger warned that shooting after hours and not identifying your target properly make a recipe for tragedy, just like the one seen on Wednesday in that Chautauqua County field.
It is not know how far Biliquist was from her home at the time she was shot, and there is no information available regarding just how close the hunter was to houses while out hunting for deer. There was also no information available on what Biliquist was wearing at the time, or whether or not she was dressed in high-visibility clothing.
[Featured Image by mangostock/Shutterstock]
