Police in Mason County, Washington, say they're searching for a suspect in a shooting. The circumstances around the crime, however, is the truly baffling part.
The victim of the shooting was dragging a dead raccoon behind his car as he was driving, which he intended to use as bait on his crab fishing trip.
This is a popular technique used by amateur crab fisherman to use a carcass of a dead animal to toss into the water to attract the crabs in order to catch more of them. However, the individual who shot the man assumed the raccoon was a dog which leads to a heated argument and the eventual crime.
Mason County Sheriff’s Office Detective Chris Liles said, “In my eyes, it’s a form of vigilante kind of justice, and it’s inappropriate and it’s dangerous to the public. It’s a situation where the suspect kind of thought he could handle the law himself.”
The truck being driven by the gunman was captured on surveillance video, which shows a Ford extended cab built between 1992 and 1997 with a dark colored canopy. There was a white dog in the cab.
A Detective Sergeant with the MCSO Jeff Rhoades, said, “the suspect might have tried to alter the truck’s appearance after the incident.”
A friend of the victim, Jake Schley, took cell phone video of a conversation he had with the victim as he was dragging the raccoon down the road prior to the shooting. Schley described his friend as “a peaceful man”, and started a fundraiser to help pay for his medical treatment.
“He is a free spirit and lives off the land,” Schley said. “I am jealous of the life he lives, with not a care in the world and a smile on his face and love in his heart. He is truly a great person.”
Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest and prosecution. Call into the tip line anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS or use the P3 Tips App on your smartphone.
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