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Woman Hit By Deer Hunter's Errant Shot

By Bill Hudson, WCCO-TV

MONTGOMERY, Minn. (WCCO) -- A close call from a deer hunter's errant shot has a Rice County woman warning other hunters to be certain of what they are shooting at.

Heather Peterson was hit in the shoulder by a 12-gauge shotgun slug around 8 a.m. on opening morning of the statewide gun deer hunting season.

The hunter's errant shot pierced Peterson's home, shattering a living room window, striking a curtain rod before hitting the young mother in the shoulder.  Fortunately for Peterson, by the time the slug entered the kitchen it had lost most of its velocity.

Still, it struck with enough force to leave her body bruised and a shoulder separated. While Peterson is still too distraught and emotional over the incident to talk publicly, she knows she is extremely lucky that the slug didn't break the skin.

As soon at the slug entered the home, Peterson called 911 and a state conservation officer along with a Rice County Deputy responded to the scene. Peterson told them she was in the kitchen with her 7- and 11-year-old children when she heard a loud "pop."

While knocked down by the force of the slug, she soon found it lying on the floor.

A hunter, across the road from Peterson's rural home, was hunting a patch of woods and shot at a deer in the direction of the house.

"I'm still haunted by the episode," she said, while adding that she's thankful the situation wasn't worse. "The slug was slowed by striking the window and a curtain rod."

Minnesota DNR Conservation Officer Julie Siems issued a misdemeanor citation to 42-year-old Edward Kotek, Jr. for the "careless discharge of a firearm."

Kotek will appear in Rice County Court on Dec. 8.

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