Illegal hunter injures woman in shooting

PERU – A woman was injured by shards of glass when a neighbor who was hunting illegally fired a shot through her window Monday morning for the second hunting accident of the season, authorities said.

The rifle shot was fired 175 yards away by a man who was hunting out of season and was baiting deer in his front yard, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Jeffrey Stearns, 45, was charged with reckless conduct with a firearm as wardens continued to investigate, Latti said.

At least two shots were fired shortly before 7 a.m. and one of the bullets went through the window of Denise Dyke’s home, Latti said.

Dyke, 20, was taken to a hospital to be treated for glass fragments that were embedded in her chest, the spokesman said. Reached at her home, she declined to comment other than to say she was OK.

Stearns was a convict in possession of a firearm who had a salt lick and ears of corn in his front lawn to attract deer. The general firearm season for deer does not begin for state residents until Oct. 27.

“Here’s a guy who has a wanton disrespect for the law,” Latti said. “He shouldn’t be in possession of a firearm.”

A woman who answered the phone at Stearns’ home Monday afternoon said there would be no comment from him on the incident.

The bullet that entered Dykes’ home was recovered by investigators and was being examined. The rifle was not seized but wardens impounded a vehicle that they hoped would yield additional evidence, Latti said.

The accident marks the second hunting accident of the season in Maine. On Friday, a man who was bird hunting was struck by six or eight pellets from a shotgun fired nearby by his hunting partner.

Last year, there were 14 hunting accidents in Maine, including two fatal shootings, Latti said.