http://www.orlandosentinel.com/automagic/news/2000-08-03/NWSCANKER03080300.html
Citrus canker workers in Miami get scare from boy's BB gun
Associated Press
[Posted Aug 3 2000 8:48 AM]
MIAMI -- The day after a man fired his shotgun at two state citrus canker inspectors, citrus workers again ran for cover. This time, though, it was just a BB gun scare.
The shots came from an 11-year-old Boy Scout practicing for a riflery merit badge. No charges were filed.
The boy was shooting at a paper target propped in a tree in his Miami backyard Wednesday. The shots passed through thick brush into a neighboring yard, where the state contractors were working.
Jerry Swinford, 59, from Boca Raton, was left with a red welt on his chest after getting hit once.
For a moment, Swinford thought a bee had stung him. But he and his fellow workers, who had finished chopping down a Key lime tree and moved on to a condemned grapefruit, ran for cover when they heard more shots.
"I'm just glad it didn't hit my eye," Swinford said.
North Miami Police raced to the boy's home.
After determining the shooting was accidental, officers confiscated the boy's gun -- bought the night before with money earned mowing lawns.
"If it weren't for what happened yesterday in Plantation, there would only have been two cops. But seven showed up," said the boy, a student at Highland Oaks Middle School.
A Plantation man fired two shots Tuesday at state inspectors who came to his house to see if his trees are infected with citrus canker.
More than 35 police officers surrounded Carl Lawson's five-acre estate after he fired a shotgun at inspectors running from the home, said Plantation police spokesman Al Butler.
The standoff ended four hours later after Lawson, 63, walked out of his home. He was not armed, but police found a shotgun in the house, Butler said.
There were no injuries, and Lawson was taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation. He was later charged with two counts of attempted homicide.
The inspectors were there to check whether the trees on the property are infected with citrus canker, a threat to the state's citrus industry.
State citrus inspectors regularly check trees for canker infection. If found, the officials mark the trees and notify the property owner that the trees need to be destroyed.
© 2000 orlandosentinel.com
Citrus canker workers in Miami get scare from boy's BB gun
Associated Press
[Posted Aug 3 2000 8:48 AM]
MIAMI -- The day after a man fired his shotgun at two state citrus canker inspectors, citrus workers again ran for cover. This time, though, it was just a BB gun scare.
The shots came from an 11-year-old Boy Scout practicing for a riflery merit badge. No charges were filed.
The boy was shooting at a paper target propped in a tree in his Miami backyard Wednesday. The shots passed through thick brush into a neighboring yard, where the state contractors were working.
Jerry Swinford, 59, from Boca Raton, was left with a red welt on his chest after getting hit once.
For a moment, Swinford thought a bee had stung him. But he and his fellow workers, who had finished chopping down a Key lime tree and moved on to a condemned grapefruit, ran for cover when they heard more shots.
"I'm just glad it didn't hit my eye," Swinford said.
North Miami Police raced to the boy's home.
After determining the shooting was accidental, officers confiscated the boy's gun -- bought the night before with money earned mowing lawns.
"If it weren't for what happened yesterday in Plantation, there would only have been two cops. But seven showed up," said the boy, a student at Highland Oaks Middle School.
A Plantation man fired two shots Tuesday at state inspectors who came to his house to see if his trees are infected with citrus canker.
More than 35 police officers surrounded Carl Lawson's five-acre estate after he fired a shotgun at inspectors running from the home, said Plantation police spokesman Al Butler.
The standoff ended four hours later after Lawson, 63, walked out of his home. He was not armed, but police found a shotgun in the house, Butler said.
There were no injuries, and Lawson was taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation. He was later charged with two counts of attempted homicide.
The inspectors were there to check whether the trees on the property are infected with citrus canker, a threat to the state's citrus industry.
State citrus inspectors regularly check trees for canker infection. If found, the officials mark the trees and notify the property owner that the trees need to be destroyed.
© 2000 orlandosentinel.com