Officer shoots, kills 76-year-old hunter
Associated Press

State wildlife officials say a veteran officer shot and killed a hunter in self-defense after a confrontation in northwestern North Carolina.

A spokesman for the state Wildlife Commission says the shooting happened early Saturday morning on private property in Wilkes County.

Captain Rusty Hunter said Officer Mark Minton was patrolling on the first day of turkey hunting season when the confrontation occurred. Hunter said it appears the officer shot the victim in self defense.

Family members identified the victim as 76-year-old Clyde Coffey of Caldwell County. His daughter told WXII-TV in Winston-Salem she doubted the officer's story, and that her father was shot on his own land.

Minton is on administrative leave while the State Bureau of Investigation reviews the incident.

News Video

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Follow-up article:

WILKES COUNTY, N.C. -- A 12-year veteran wildlife officer was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed a hunter Saturday morning in Wilkes County, according to a statement from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

Officials said officer Mark Minton was patrolling an area off Cain Creek Road at about 7:30 a.m. when he came into contact with 76-year-old Clyde Coffey, of Lenoir.

Capt. Rusty Hunter with the North Carolina Wildlife Commission said an armed confrontation between the two prompted Minton to shoot Coffey one time, killing him.

"There is no evidence to suggest the officer confused the hunter with an animal," Hunter said. "It appears, from all information gathered, the officer was protecting himself. And I don't know any further details than that."

Hunter said Minton was patrolling the area, checking for bait traps, bag limits and hunting licenses. Saturday was the first day of spring turkey season in North Carolina.

The shooting happened in a wooded area on the property, which is owned by Coffey's family. Authorities said Minton had called for backup. According to North Carolina law, wildlife officers are allowed on private property for wildlife-related investigations.

The NCWRD statement said its investigation of the incident had been turned over to the State Bureau of Investigation.

Coffey's family members said Sunday they doubt Minton's claim that he was provoked. "He was taken from us and he was shot on his own land minding his own business. Who shoots a 76-year-old on his own land?" Coffey's daughter told WXII12 news.

"He was a family man who loved his family," she added. "They were the center of his world. This was totally senseless. He was the best father, and grandfather and great-grandfather."

Family members said Coffey had gone out hunting with his son and grandsons, but it wasn't known if any of the family members had witnessed the incident.

Minton is on paid administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.

This is the first wildlife officer-involved shooting in almost 25 years.

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Sad story no matter which way the investigation turns.

quote:

Originally posted by Outdoor Writer:
"There is no evidence to suggest the officer confused the hunter with an animal," Hunter said. "It appears, from all information gathered , the officer was protecting himself. And I don't know any further details than that."

He damn well knows the details, he's just not spilling the beans until they can put a positive spin on it. After all, the only other person to witness what happened is dead. They can dream up any scenario they want.

what makes you think they NEED to put a positive spin on it?????

Maybe, just maybe, the officer did shoot in self defense. You never heard of anyone threatening a game warden???

Meanest sob I ever knew was in his 70's.

Re-read what Outdoor Writer posted. They tip-toed around everything else, to even categorize it as 'an armed confrontation.' Duh, 76 year old Clyde was hunting wild turkeys! Of course he was armed.

The victim was 76 yo, hunting during a legal season, hunting on his own land, and fired no shots, yet was killed by a game-warden. Shouldn't have happened.
Wonder what weapon the officer used, and whether the victim had any history of early dementia.

Dtala is correct.
No point in trial in the "court of public opinion". Wait until all the fact come out. Being as it's an ongoing investigation, I wouldn't comment too much on it either if I was the PIO.

76 would mean he was probably a Korean war vet.

Going to be bad for the Wardens office either way there.

Problem is it is very difficult to prosicute police officers for wrong doing in shootings. Most prosecuters don't want anything to do with going after cops as it creates a rift between the police force and the District Attorney.

I don't have a dog in this race and maybe it was a justifable shooting, but I believe the warden should have backed off and avoided the confrontation! What violation could have been worth a mans life? We have a gung ho warden in our area that is as pure an ass hole as anyone will ever meet. He acts like a KGB agent or the Gustapo. He has a bad drinking problem and shows up for work hung over and mad at the world. I would not be surprised if he doesn't get shot or shoot someone.

Hawkeye47

I live pretty close to the scene and the local RUMOR is that the officer discovered Mr. Coffey in a tree over bait. Baiting Turkey is illegal in NC. The officer asked Mr. Coffey to come down that it was illegal to hunt turkey over bait and Mr. Coffey refused. Mr. Coffey stated that he was on his own land and would do what he wanted. The officer kept asking Mr. Coffey to come down and talk about it but Mr. Coffey kept refusing. Mr. Coffey finally stated "If I come down there I am going to kill you". Mr Coffey then came down and pointing his weapon at the officer began walking toward the officer. The officer tried to keep trees between them for a distance around the hill until he ran out of cover.

NOTICE: This is what I heard today! This may or may not be the way anything happened. This is just the local rumor. Better wait until the facts are all out before judgement is passed onto anyone. May God Bless all involved in this incident. Louis

quote:

Originally posted by DTala:
what makes you think they NEED to put a positive spin on it?????

Maybe, just maybe, the officer did shoot in self defense. You never heard of anyone threatening a game warden???

Meanest sob I ever knew was in his 70's.

I've actually threatened a game warden and I meant it and if he had reached for his sidearm
I would have blown him into eternity.

But I must say several things in my own defense
1)He was a real asshole (spectacularly so)
2)He messed up my days hunt just to be a prick.
3)He was rude abusive and unreasonable
4)He was in the wrong goddamned state.

He was a NY state warden I was hunting in pennsylvania.

He almost got himself killed because he started off rude and abusive.

after opening a livestock gate to drive through it AND LEAVES IT OPEN, He blows a whistle and says "hey you, out of the tree" I ask "why?" "Because I said so" he replies...

Not the best approach to someone with a rifle
who's been sitting in a tree for 9hours.

If I had to write a list of five people I regret NOT shooting he'd be in the top three.

I have no dog in this particular fight either, but I will say that I've met mostly really nice guys, but the one or two genuine pricks leave me wonding WHEN they will get shot, not "if"

AD

I just love internet trials by folks with NO first hand knowledge of the incident and apparently little knowledge of law enforcement or armed confrontations.

I have NO first hand knowledge of the incident, BUT I do have 26 years spent enforcing game laws as a full time game warden, retired four years ago.

SGraves..shouldn't have happened? Maybe you know more than the rest of us??? Making a LOT of assumptions there.

onefunzr2..In an ongoing investigation they aren't going to make any guesses about what happened. I dfon't see where they danced around anything.

Hawkeye, pray tell me hou YOU would/have backed off an armed confrontation. Sometimes one cannot just "back off" if the other person involved won't let you. And no game violation is worth anyones life. And ALL GW's aren't assholes, even though I'm pretty sure I could find some of my old outlaws that still say that about me.....

youngoutdoors rumor is probably closer to the truth. Like I said before, the meanest sob outlaw I ever delt with was in his 70's and would of killed without a thought.

troy

dtala,

you are wise newcomer to stay anonymous.

you don't want my opinion of the deal either. If you are a good enough shot to kill somebody, you are a good enough shot to wound them just as easy.

Rich
Buff Killer

I pissed on a GW's head from my treestand once!
In my home state of NY a warden may enter private property if he has reason to think an infraction is occuring.
This "shitforbrains" was driving his ATV on my families private lane...parked it and began sneaking thru the woods...I could see him from 500 yds as he parked the ATV and started up lane thru a grown up field. The lane ran right in front the tree I was in. When wonder boy got below me I cut loose with a good stream of piss his reaction was "golden"!! He claimed to be looking for bait...I asked him if he was looking what was his cause for entering without having knowledge of it???????

Idaho, you obviousely have NO experience in law enforcement or surviving armed confrontations. Shoot to wound....good one. LOL shoot a man armed with a shotgun in the foot, heh?? good idea, if you LIKE getting shot with a shotgun...

the name is Troy, I said that i my post.

2th doc, I'm pretty sure you just made that up for all of us.

Dtala,
Only one living person has exact knowledge of the events.
If the old man had time to climb down the tree after threatening the (trespassing) officer, then the officer had time to leave and return with the sheriff at a later time when things had cooled down. Lots of Ifs and buts and that is the way this kind of case always is. I agree when you say that some guys in their 70's can be as ornery as anyone, but I bet that officer is wishing he had done differently to keep this from happening. If's he's not, he shouldn't be an officer.
But it is all guess work, except that the old man is dead on his own property by the hand of an officer over a possible minor game regulation violation.

SG, you are right that the officer more than likely wishes it had turned out differently.

But sometimes you get into a situation where you can't back out and you hope the other fella does. Looks like that didn't happen here.

One of the scaredest times I ever had was with a teenage road hunter that wouldn't listen to my commands to put his gun down. He kept asking his older brother what to do. I was thinking "Lord, please let me get out of this without shooting a dumbass kid". He did.

My goal was to make it to retirement without shooting anyone or getting badly hurt. I made it.

bad day all around for all included.

troy

quote:

"There is no evidence to suggest the officer confused the hunter with an animal,"

This is the one sentence that bothers me.

I was watching this very same topic on another forum and the moderators locked it because it was getting out of hand. I'm reserving judgment until the official findings are released. More than likely we will never know the whole story.

I do remember hearing somewhere where the Warden was investigating illegal baiting.

I'm pretty sure the Officer wasn't confused about the old man being an animal either.

My old man,may he rest in peace WAS a mean S.O.B.in his 60's.
But here's one to make you chuckle,most game wardens I've met are good people,but there's always a few bad apples in the box.
When I was a youngster learning to hunt with my father he always taught me ethics and fair chase.
On a bird hunt,we had just finished a sweep and were back at our truck.
Our Black Lab as always,jumped up into the truck bed waiting for us to move to the next field.
We were having a snack and water break,pondering our next move when a Game Warden drove up to us.
This worthy soul,without even introducing himself,comes up to the truck,leans over the bed,looks at our dog and loudly states"That's the ugliest dog I've seen all day".
Our Lab,being protective of his truck,jumps up and nearly removes the Wardens face!
HE jumps back,unholstered his pistol,AND cocks the hammer back,AND points it at our Lab!
To this day,I can't figure out how my old man was able to pull out his L.C. Smith double barrel shotgun,load it,and place BOTH BARRELS against the Warden's head SO FAST.
Old man says to the Warden"Go Ahead and see what happens".



Ah. the good ol' days!!!!!!


ironfist

I too have known a couple of GWs I'd call friends and two that are first class assholes. One of the assholes got his due. He was after some poachers and they got the drop on him. Left him handcuffed naked to a tree in January (in Louisiana so not cold enough to kill). I'm not taking the poacher's side, but that asshole needed to chill out a bit. It was hard for him to be authoritative after since everyone was laughing at him. He actually moved after the incident. Gosh we miss him.

There will be no satisfying conclusion to this story. Sucks no matter how it went down. Never use a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

There is not enough information to make a decision, but the way the report is written makes it sound fishy.

quote:

Originally posted by daniel77:
There will be no satisfying conclusion to this story. Sucks no matter how it went down. Never use a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Exactly.

I have a giant problem with this whole thing. I cannot believe how many of you would pass judgment with out knowing the whole story. Lynch mob mentality. Find out the whole story before passing judgment.

I've never quite understood how so many "sportsmen" have such an issue with game wardens. To me, following the law while hunting is just another aspect of fair chase. If you're not breaking the law, you really don't have anything to worry about.

If you break the law and get caught it's your own fault. You made a decision, you deal with it. The wardens job is to enforce the law, if they didn't do that, there wouldn't be much point in having them.

Pete

quote:

If you're not breaking the law, you really don't have anything to worry about.

My interpretation is different, I think the commentary is reflecting the over-regulated state of the nation and overt frustration in that area.

Very much a police state mentality seems to being becoming a mainstream perception and concern.

Here in Texas there are , as I assume,many excellent game wardens ,some I consider friends.
That having been said,we also have many with a predisposition of totalitarian superiority rather than service.
We are seeing this attitude in our other law officers as unfortunately displayed on the recent national news.

Prudence and judgment seem to be things of the past.
Example: A local police officer arresting a lady in the driveway of her new home for not having complied with the 30 day requirement for DL address change. This lady had ZERO prior record, the dash cam showed no arrogance nor rude behaviour on her part.

In short, even those of us considered the right wing fanatics by many see a disturbing trend in law enforcement, abrupt, arrogant and totalitarian.

As you can see from my first post, this is a sad event, the concern I sense is that we are all seeing far too many events that mostly likely and most probably could have better resolutions than we as the public are seeing.

(P.S. I have carried a badge .)

heck, just like that officer in Dallas; he was just doing his job as he saw fit. Unlike Dallas, he won't have the hassle of conflicting stories...

Rich
Buff Killer

I dont care if the old man was hunting on is own land, during season, etc., etc., etc.. If he drew a bead on the officer, the shot was justified...and rightly so, folks.

A lot of "if's" here. Only 2 people know what happened and one of them is dead.

There is no game law violation worth dying over.

Jeez, I'm hearing a whole lot of speculating here, based on a tiny bit of information. Of course they aren't going to be saying much during an ongoing investigation. We cannot automatically assume the GW was an asshole -- or that the hunter was either.

Why don't we reserve judgement until the facts are presented?

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:
Why don't we reserve judgement until the facts are presented?

Because that would be too practical!

The son of a friend of mine recently asked me why I carried. My reply was and remains, "If it is going to be them or me, it is going to be them. Not looking for a fight, just looking to help out the odds of winning."

Just because the 70 year old man was on his own land at this particular time, doesn't mean a thing.

If I am standing in my front yard when an armed officer from any agency (county, state, local, etc.) comes onto my property to ask some questions, and I threaten them with a firearm, I get what I get.

I have no doubt the officer has the same mentality I have:

"If it is going to be them or me, it is going to be them."

It is too bad for all concerned it had to end this way, but that was a choice made by BOTH parties, not just one.

---Mike

quote:

Why don't we reserve judgement until the facts are presented?

quote:

Because that would be too practical!

Correct on both counts Gentlemen, but then, what would that prove to some of these folks.

Some folks have a Hard On for ANY LEO that even glances their direction and others figger the old gentleman was suffering from dementia.

Great responses Whitworth and Graybird, too bad too many folks on here can not read.

So was it determined that the hunter was hunting over bait? I'm staying out of the shooting debate as I'm more interested in the reasons for the game warden to be there in the first place.
It's my understanding here in Texas a game warden has authority anywhere anytime IF there are suspicions of game violations.
Rodney.

quote:

Originally posted by Scottyboy:
I dont care if the old man was hunting on is own land, during season, etc., etc., etc.. If he drew a bead on the officer, the shot was justified...and rightly so, folks.

NOT WHEN I WAS TAUGHT.
We were taught to evaluate the threat.
Protect ourselves and fire if ABSOLUTELY necessary.

I have already stated this is sad no matter which way the investigation turns.

But I do feel as many here apparently do, the current mood in this country seems to be to shoot first and figure out the situation later.

The truth will never be known, only one side of the story. No matter what, any investigation will be incomplete, thus, any and all conclusions will be flawed. Nothing can be proven here.

We could play the devil's advocate in either direction. I seriously doubt that a GW would go looking to shoot an old guy on his own place for grins. But the officer in question could have easily left the property upon being threatened (if that really happened), and returned with back up. There is no reasonable argument to the contrary. Plus, he could have thrown bait out himself to cover any lie. But, I don't see that as a likely scenario.

The shooting could have easily been avoided if the officer simply left. But then I guess he wouldn't be doing his job.

quote:

The shooting could have easily been avoided if the officer simply left. But then I guess he wouldn't be doing his job.

That sounds a lot like how the UN has been dealing with Iran and North Korea....

I've known some gamewardens that are great and honorable men, brave and dedicated, and temperate. I've known others that are plagued with the fault of envy and only became game wardens because they don't want you shooting the animals that they want to shoot themselves. In other words they want it all for themselves and resent other hunters.
Now, what kind of a game warden this guy is must be known by the locals. If he is an asshole he didn't become one overnight. His reputation is what will tell you if he is telling the truth.

quote:

Originally posted by Scottyboy:
I dont care if the old man was hunting on is own land, during season, etc., etc., etc.. If he drew a bead on the officer, the shot was justified...and rightly so, folks.

That's not entirely true.

The real issue is how they got to the shot. A gun pointing, or yelling, or whatever.

An officer is not always justified in shooting someone on their own property.

Sad story for all involved. The truth may never be known.

Worst warden I ever encounterd was a she! Actually a sheeman, gay and had a young son, and a live in partner. Which is all out of place in rural Wyoming. She made more enemies in two years than the previous four wardens did in 20 years. She was only here two years, she got promoted to an office/supervisory position in Cody.