Geocaching Gunman Sentenced to 7+ Years
So the guy who shot at some geocachers down in the states, hitting one 13 year old in the leg, was sentenced to 7 years and 4 months in prison.
What do you think of this?
I think it’s good he didn’t get off with nothing. So the guy fired his gun at some people climbing the hill and claims he did it because he was robbed sometime earlier. It’s not like they were kicking in his door or anything, he actually had to go and seek them out to shoot at them.
http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/victorville-31002-year-geocachers.html
71-year-old who shot at geocachers gets 7 years
November 01, 2011 4:31 PMVICTORVILLE • A judge on Tuesday sentenced a 71-year-old man to seven years and four months in prison for shooting at people who were playing a high-tech treasure hunting game on his Oro Grande property.
On Oct. 3, a jury found Manuel Soria Heim guilty of assaulting two male adult victims with a gun. The jury acquitted Heim of two other counts of shooting at two others in the group, including a 13-year-old boy who was injured in the leg.
At Tuesday’s hearing in Victorville Superior Court, Deputy Public Defender Luke Byward attempted to persuade Judge John Tomberlin that Heim should only get probation. Heim shot into the air and at the rocks to scare away the strangers because he’d been living in constant fear of trespassers since getting robbed a short time before the incident, according to Byward.
“He overreacted. He made a mistake,” Byward said. He added that Heim has never had so much as a traffic ticket and that a prison term could mean putting him behind bars “effectively for the rest of his life.”
Tomberlin flatly rejected the idea that it was a probation case. He said Heim’s unprovoked actions caused a great threat of bodily harm as well as emotional injuries to the victims.
“I don’t see that Mr. Heim’s past experience with somebody else who’s ripped him off gives him license to shoot people who just happen to wander onto his property for totally innocent reasons,” Tomberlin said. “There’s absolutely nothing sinister whatsoever that the victims in this case were engaged in.”
On July 15, a father drove with his brother, his son and his son’s friend from Simi Valley to the High Desert on a geocaching trip. Participants in the game go online to find coordinates and then use a GPS device to find waterproof containers holding a logbook, in which the players sign their code names after each discovery.
The geocachers were hiking on the hill off National Trails Highway near Academy Avenue in Oro Grande looking for several containers hidden there. When they were opening one of the containers, they heard a voice from the foot of the hill telling them they were on private property and to get out.
According to prosecutors, they turned back and began walking back up the hill. Heim claimed they didn’t listen so he fired his rifle.
A bullet ricocheted off a rock and struck the 13-year-old boy in the leg. The boy recovered but testified he still feels pain when he walks.
Heim sat quietly in the Victorville courtroom, listening carefully to his Spanish interpreter.
“I’m so sorry,” Heim told the judge before his sentencing. “I never tried to hurt nobody.”
Being a Geocacher, a property owner and Gun owner this would never cross my mind. The only way you could defend yourself for shooting someone is if your life is in danger and in this case it was not by a long shot (pun not intended).
it is scary to read the comments
I remember a time when passers-by would be invited in for milk and cookies, now they got shot at. Interesting social commentary.
If indeed the shooter only intended to shoot “in the air” to scare them off, then I think maybe 7 years is a bit harsh… But guns are for hunting wild animals, and to a lesser extent, if your life is directly threatened, for self defense. The guy obviously exercised extremely poor judgment and these geocachers probably had no idea they were trespassing until he came out and yelled at them. Better he get 7 years than no time at all.
Anyone else wondering whether they signed the log sheet before getting shot at, whether they logged their experience online and whether the cache has been archived? 🙂
We met a couple in Belgium,(they were Canadian), who were hiking in France and were hit by bird shot. They were in an open field, no trees or hills. When they started screaming and waving their arms the hunter came up to them and excitedly showed them the bird he just got. He was amazed they were upset, it was only bird shot. He then offered to take them to the dr. He continued his hunting when they declined a drive.
The 71 year shot at rocks???? I might believe firing a gun into the air, but shooting at rocks??? No way, he was trying to cover his a$$ for plain stupidity.
Guns and stupidity don’t mix, but they don’t make you take a test for common sense when you purchase a firearm. I have no problem with guns. We own guns. They are stored properly, and used cautiously. Respect for the law, the gun and knowledge of the harm a gun can inflict would keep me from ever trying to scare someone with a firearm. Pointing a firearm at another person is beyond stupid.
People get guns out for one reason. To seriously harm or kill something or someone. Target practice excluded. But, even with target practice you do that in a controlled environment.
Rant over. Thanks for the outlet.
I guess because we are all cachers we are a bit biased here.
I feel sorry for the man, I am sure he didnt intend to hurt anyone, but I understand his situation, hes been a victim of robberies in his property and then sees two strangers andering around in his property, the guy is old, how much of a fight could he put in?
Put yourself in his shoes and think of what would you do?
It easy to say sitting on your armchair that it was stupid.
I take issue that due to negligence of the cache owner and to a lesser level GC two lives got ruined by putting and allowing a cache on private property and this is what sad in all of this imo.
Im no expert or anything but I wonder if the guy family has any legal grounds to sue the cache owner or GC for negligence??
It was stupid.
He saw people above his property and he yelled at them and they left and he shot at them. That was stupid. No excuse for shooting at people.
I read the comments on the news story and was surprised at the people who thought it was justified to shoot at anyone who steps on your property. That is stupid.
I recall the story of a Japanese exchange student in Florida who was going to a party and walked up to the wrong house. The homeowner shot and killed him as he walked up to the door. The homeowner was found not guilty. Only in the USA.
I heard this advice from a gun person: If someone breaks into your house, shoot him in the chest and then shoot into the ceiling. You can then say that you shot into the ceiling as a warning and then shot the intruder.
PA
Why does the title refer to him as “Geocaching Gunman”? Shouldn’t it be “Ultimate Muggle”??
True, but I don’t know if he’d be ‘ultimate’ or ‘infamous’
Uber-Muggle.
Cache could be listed as 5 star difficulty, 5 star terrain. Description: “Cache is located on private property of a 71-year old senile gun owner that shoots first and asks questions later.” Cache attributes: “Beware of gunman. Bulletproof vest recommended. Bulletproof helmet and visor recommended. Stealth required.”
I thought Texas was the only state with outrageous laws regarding using firearms to defend your self or property up to and including shoot to kill. Bet there’s no caches put on private property there without permission.
In any case, being a gun owner also. personally, i beleive you shouldn’t use a firearm for self protection. worst case scenariom, you confront a burgalar who also has a gun. Guess who’s probably gonna hesitate and who will end up getting shot. probably the homeowner.
But also, I know (personally) here in NB, during daylight hours, if you are asked to leave a property and refuse, you can be charged with trepassing. AT night you can be charged without having to be asked to leave first unless you have a valid reason to be there. ie, taxi driver, food delivery person, invited guest.
In any case, buddy with the gun doing what he did would probably be charged with unsafe gun handling and/or reckless endangerment. If it was proved he intentionally shot at the victim with intent to harm, there would be more serious charges plus his firearms would be seized and destroyed and lose his abilty to get any more.
Sad case in any case and as Zemartello says, make sure property owner has granted permission to place caches on his property.