By RODNEY L. SHERMAN
Staff writer
PORTER TWP. – A 52-year-old New Jersey man has been charged with the accidental shooting of a fellow deer hunter Dec. 1, 2015, in Porter Township.
Steven J. Stankiewicz Sr., of Villas, N.J., is charged with shooting at, injuring or killing a human being while hunting, a second-degree misdemeanor under Pennsylvania Code 34.
According to court documents, Pennsylvania Wildlife Conservation officer Steven J. Ace was summoned at 8:19 a.m. Dec. 1, 2015, to an area near the intersection of Pyne and Blair roads in Porter Township. State police troopers Mark Graf and Ryan Wilson were already on the scene.
The victim of the shooting was still at the scene being treated in an ambulance for shrapnel wounds to his arm and a bullet wound to his leg.
The shooting victim told Ace he was sitting in a tree stand when he heard one gun shot and then felt pain in his left leg.
The victim also allegedly told Ace he believed Stankiewicz shot him.
Ace conducted interviews with hunters from both hunting parties and all agreed there were three shots fired.
Stankiewicz allegedly admitted he had fired three shots earlier.
According to court documents, Stankiewicz took Ace to the location where Stankiewicz had fired the three shots from his Remington 760 Game Master 30.06-caliber rifle.
Stankiewicz said he left his tree stand around 7:30 a.m. and walked northeast and returned to his tree stand via the same route.
Stankiewicz said he encountered a group of several deer coming from the direction of his tree stand, one of which was a large antlered deer.
According to court documents, Stankiewicz said he fired at the antlered deer but missed.
The deer were between Stankiewicz and the victim’s location.
Ace reports at the time of the shooting, Stankiewicz and the victim were 277 yards apart.
According to court documents, the deer were on the skyline when Stankiewicz fired his rifle and there was no natural backstop or terrain behind the deer to stop the bullets.
Ace reports Stankiewicz said he fired his first shot before realizing the opaque scope cover was down on his rifle scope. Stankiewicz said he flipped the scope cover open and fired two more shots at the deer.
The scope on the rifle was set at eight-power.
Ace reported he determined the first shot from Stankiewicz’s rifle struck the victim.
Stankiewicz told Ace he heard the victim say he had been shot. Stankiewicz said he hurried to the victim and was the first person to arrive at the victim’s location.
Stankiewicz said he called 9-1-1 immediately.
Ace reported Stankiewicz admitted he shot the victim.
Stankiewicz is scheduled for an April 21 preliminary hearing. Court records do not include any arraignment or bail information. There are no online court records indicating Stankiewicz has ever been charged with any other kind of violations in Pennsylvania.
According to Pennsylvania Code 34, if convicted of the offense, in addition to any penalties prescribed by law for the second-degree misdemeanor, Stankiewicz could face the loss of Pennsylvania hunting privileges for five to 10 years.