Tragic Accident in MA
12-06-2005, 09:19 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: RI
Posts: 3,073
Tragic Accident in MA
Heard about this on the news yesterday and did a search for additional info. Originally I figured the guy messed up and had his safety off, but not according to his account of the accident. My sympathies to the family.[/align][/align][/align]Monday, December 05, 2005
By BOB DATZ[/align][/align][email protected] [/align](The Republican)
WARE - "He was my hunting and fishing buddy," Raymond F. Libby Jr. said, temporarily shaking off the shock of his son's death Saturday. "I mean, he always waits for me after work."
Raymond F. Libby III, 10, of 4 East St., was identified yesterday by Hampden Police as the victim of an apparent hunting accident in the woods off Somers Road Saturday morning.
It resulted, his father said, from bad footing as they descended a hill - the man carrying a rifle and the boy a BB gun he liked to tote along.
The fourth-grader had been accompanying his father hunting since the age of 4, his father said. On Saturday he was dressed in blaze orange and following his father back to the stand they had established for deer hunting on privately owned land behind Kibbe's Sawmill, the father said. He continued to describe events, including his own loss of footing.
He slipped twice going down the grade. The first time, young Ray kept up his own pace and therefore passed in front of his father.
"I always kept my safety on and was very cautious," Raymond Libby Jr. said. "He always walked behind me," he added, while his shotgun would be pointed forward. "It was just that one time."
When Raymond Jr. slipped a second time several feet later, the man grabbed a small tree trunk with one hand as he slid, holding his gun in the other. The tree pulled out of the ground, and the elder Libby kept going.
"I was sliding," he said. "That's when the gun went off. It hit some branches. I didn't have my hand on the trigger...
"I jumped up quick and I ran to him before he collapsed."
Libby asked his son if he was hit. His "yes" would be the last word the father would hear him say. He carried the boy at least 200 yards to the area where their truck was parked, where another hunter who heard commotion was also emerging from the woods, Libby said.
It's that hunter who would use his cell phone to notify authorities, who responded quickly and tried to revive the boy. Libby said a surgeon at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield would later tell him it is believed the boy had died before arriving by Life Star helicopter, perhaps even immediately after being wounded. The father had thought the boy was in shock as he rushed him back toward the road.
Raymond Libby Jr. wasn't initially interested in talking when interrupted during a somber Sunday in his apartment on the edge of Ware's downtown where he, his wife Jessica and their 12-year-old daughter Amber were being supported by other family members.
Jessica Libby described Ray's love for baseball, hunting and fishing and the outdoors in general. The skateboard dusted with snow on the porch outside, she confirmed, was also her son's. "He was very hyper, very active, but a lovable boy," she said. "He was one of a kind."
Family members expected the news of his death to hit hard today at Stanley M. Koziol Elementary School, where Ray had spent seven years including preschool.
The father and son were alone at the time of the incident. They had split up from a friend who was also hunting on the 270-acre tract, Libby said yesterday.
Hampden police declined to elaborate on initial statements or provide any details about the apparent accident reported about 9:30 a.m., which remains under investigation by local and state Environmental Police.
Funeral arrangements are to be announced, Jessica Libby said, and are to be handled by Charbonneau Funeral Home, Ware.
By BOB DATZ[/align][/align][email protected] [/align](The Republican)
WARE - "He was my hunting and fishing buddy," Raymond F. Libby Jr. said, temporarily shaking off the shock of his son's death Saturday. "I mean, he always waits for me after work."
Raymond F. Libby III, 10, of 4 East St., was identified yesterday by Hampden Police as the victim of an apparent hunting accident in the woods off Somers Road Saturday morning.
It resulted, his father said, from bad footing as they descended a hill - the man carrying a rifle and the boy a BB gun he liked to tote along.
The fourth-grader had been accompanying his father hunting since the age of 4, his father said. On Saturday he was dressed in blaze orange and following his father back to the stand they had established for deer hunting on privately owned land behind Kibbe's Sawmill, the father said. He continued to describe events, including his own loss of footing.
He slipped twice going down the grade. The first time, young Ray kept up his own pace and therefore passed in front of his father.
"I always kept my safety on and was very cautious," Raymond Libby Jr. said. "He always walked behind me," he added, while his shotgun would be pointed forward. "It was just that one time."
When Raymond Jr. slipped a second time several feet later, the man grabbed a small tree trunk with one hand as he slid, holding his gun in the other. The tree pulled out of the ground, and the elder Libby kept going.
"I was sliding," he said. "That's when the gun went off. It hit some branches. I didn't have my hand on the trigger...
"I jumped up quick and I ran to him before he collapsed."
Libby asked his son if he was hit. His "yes" would be the last word the father would hear him say. He carried the boy at least 200 yards to the area where their truck was parked, where another hunter who heard commotion was also emerging from the woods, Libby said.
It's that hunter who would use his cell phone to notify authorities, who responded quickly and tried to revive the boy. Libby said a surgeon at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield would later tell him it is believed the boy had died before arriving by Life Star helicopter, perhaps even immediately after being wounded. The father had thought the boy was in shock as he rushed him back toward the road.
Raymond Libby Jr. wasn't initially interested in talking when interrupted during a somber Sunday in his apartment on the edge of Ware's downtown where he, his wife Jessica and their 12-year-old daughter Amber were being supported by other family members.
Jessica Libby described Ray's love for baseball, hunting and fishing and the outdoors in general. The skateboard dusted with snow on the porch outside, she confirmed, was also her son's. "He was very hyper, very active, but a lovable boy," she said. "He was one of a kind."
Family members expected the news of his death to hit hard today at Stanley M. Koziol Elementary School, where Ray had spent seven years including preschool.
The father and son were alone at the time of the incident. They had split up from a friend who was also hunting on the 270-acre tract, Libby said yesterday.
Hampden police declined to elaborate on initial statements or provide any details about the apparent accident reported about 9:30 a.m., which remains under investigation by local and state Environmental Police.
Funeral arrangements are to be announced, Jessica Libby said, and are to be handled by Charbonneau Funeral Home, Ware.
12-06-2005, 10:06 AM
#3
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Cushing, OK
Posts: 107
RE: Tragic Accident in MA
That is a sad, sad thing to hear. The family will be in my prayers. That kind of scenario is the only way I could ever imagine giving up hunting. Just don't know how I would react, and I hope that I never have to find out. I firmly believe that hunting (and fishing) is one of the main reasons that my dad and I have stayed so close. He's in his 50s and I'm 32, and even back in my teens when we butted heads over everything else, hunting was always our common ground. The death of a child is always heartbreaking, but if possible, even more so in a situation like this. I will say this, and it's not a critique of the father, but anytime footing is questionable do not depend on the safety. Take the extra 5 seconds to unload the gun.
12-06-2005, 10:15 AM
#4
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: fort mcmurray alberta canada
Posts: 5,667
RE: Tragic Accident in MA
Originally I figured the guy messed up and had his safety off, but not according to his account of the accident.
12-06-2005, 10:22 AM
#5
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Nekoosa Wi USA
Posts: 6,066
RE: Tragic Accident in MA
I go thalf way through and began crying. I have a 7 year old son that enjoys spending time with me when i go hunting, I cant imagine what i woudl be like if that ever happend to me. My thoughts and prayers are with the boy and the family. God Bless them all.
12-06-2005, 10:52 AM
#6
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Philly, PA
Posts: 42
RE: Tragic Accident in MA
ORIGINAL: stubblejumper
Reading what you have posted that still sounds like the most likely cause.It would not be that unlikely for a branch to pull the trigger but in this case it would have had to disengage the safety first.The odds of that happening in that orderare very low.
Originally I figured the guy messed up and had his safety off, but not according to his account of the accident.
I still remember one of the first things they taught me in my hunters saftey course was to never really on a saftey...its only a mechanical device and can failjust like any other. Its very possible that he could have had the safety on, sometimes things just go wrong.One time a friend of mine had his gun go off as he was loading it. His fingerwas no where near the trigger, but when he chambered a round in his bolt action, when he closed the bolt, the gun went off.
Man I feel for that dad. I just purchased a BB gun for my 10 year old son and envisioned taking him out next year with it.My heart goes out to that family
