Two men accidently shot by Illinois state police captain while hunting

An Illinois State Police captain accidentally shot two men while hunting, but criminal charges will not be pursued.

When Capt. Scott Rice, 43, of rural Union County near Cobden, Ill., fired his shotgun at a turkey the morning of April 24, the buckshot struck two mushroom hunters nearly 30 yards past the bird, State's Attorney Allen W. James said.

The victims, a 50- and 65-year-old man, were hit with between 40 and 50 pellets, James said.

Rice, a commander at the Illinois State Police District 13 in DuQuoin, Ill., helped the men to their nearby truck, and the pair drove themselves to a local hospital. They were transferred to a Cape Girardeau hospital and treated and released the same day, James said.

No criminal charges would be filed against Rice because the captain did not see the men and had no intention of shooting at them, according to James.

"It was an accident," he said.

Rice was lying on the ground preparing to shoot the turkey about 42 yards away from him. About 28 yards past the bird, the two victims were on private property with their chests exposed above a ridge where the turkey was. They were both out of sight of Rice, according to James.

One shot was fired, the bird jumped up, and Rice fired a second shot within two seconds, James said. Both shots struck the men.

The shooting was also investigated by local Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police officers, whose work was double-checked by officers out of Springfield, Ill., according to James.

The officers cited Rice with hunting without a permit and fined him $100.

Rice does have a permit to hunt turkeys on his property, but during the hunt, he flushed a bird out and followed it onto U.S. Forest Preserve property where the shots were fired, James said. He did not have a permit to hunt there.

The captain was also given a warning for using shot greater than No. 4. James said it was common for the department to give such a warning for that offense.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127