LAKE COUNTY —A Northern Michigan sheriff is investigating after some vacation homes were hit with bullets.
Lake County sheriff Rich Martin said they aren’t sure when it happened, but believe it was around the 20th of September.
The affected homes are in the Irons area.
The sheriff said the person who fired the shots might not even know they hit people’s homes, and they need your help to find out how it all went down.
“It’s not uncommon once in a while. You know, we do have around hits, you know, like a shed. It’s rare they hit a residence or something like that,” said Martin.
Martin said they are investigating the reckless discharge of a firearm, a misdemeanor offense.
“There’s a lot of hunting and target practice, those types of things that happen up here in Lake County. So, if I had to assume anything, I would guess it was an accident. It wasn’t intentional,” said Martin.
He said one of the homes was hit several times, with the bullets coming from the southeast direction.
“It looks like there was three holes that we can see. Two of them actually stopped and the actual siding or the outside of the house. And then one made it through both, you know, through the wall, into the bathroom,” said Martin.
He said because they are vacation homes no one was injured by the gunfire, but it does make investigating it a bit more challenging, not knowing exactly when it happened.
Martin said the area is remote without a lot of traffic and neighbors don’t recall seeing anything.
“They believe that the last time they were up here was mid-September. So, it’s been, you know, maybe a couple of weeks at that time that they didn’t notice any that time. The proprietor couldn’t think of anything that he would have been targeted or the family would have been targeted at all,” said Martin.
He said it could have been worse if someone had been in the bathroom.
“That’s why it’s always good to be extremely safe when operating a firearm, because you’re always accountable for every round that comes out of there,” said Martin.
There are safety tips to keep in mind when using a firearm.
Martin said by state law, you must be at least 500 feet from an occupied dwelling, unless you have the permission of the homeowner and never shoot your gun into the air.
“If there is an accidental discharge or somebody shoots around in the air, that round’s going to come up, but it’s going to come down somewhere and it could come down and hit somebody or hit something else,” said Martin.
Also keep your gun unloaded until ready to use, always keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot, and make sure you have an appropriate back stop.
“The backstop is where they’re going to hit. So, in most cases when people go out and shoot, they have a backstop, which is basically like a little bit of dirt, a pile of dirt, you know, usually probably a couple of feet, 2 to 3 feet higher than what you’re shooting at,” said Martin.
The sheriff said if you know anything to contact the sheriff’s office.