Daniel Pettit (Photo / St. Louis County Jail)
HIBBING, Minn. (KFGO) – A man accused of shooting at a plane helping to put out a wildfire near Orr in northeastern Minnesota claims he was crow hunting and was not intentionally shooting at planes. Daniel Pettit, 48, is charged with reckless endangerment, recklessly firing a gun and felony criminal damage to property.
A fire-fighting plane returned to the Range Regional Airport in Hibbing last Friday with a bullet hole in its rudder. The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office inspected the aircraft and determined that the plane had been hit with a slug from a shotgun. A deputy suspected Pettit might have been behind the shooting, recalling a time when Pettit had expressed annoyance when float planes flew over his house two years ago.
(Photo / St. Louis County Sheriffs Office)
In an interview with investigators, Pettit said he believed the planes were as close as 40 feet above his house and he thought they were breaking FAA regulations by flying less than 500 feet above a home.
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