a walker amputated after being the victim of an accidental shooting by a hunter

The trip to the forest to pick mushrooms turned into a tragedy for a 38-year-old father on October 30 in Bormes-les-Mimosas (Var). As reported Var-Matin Sunday November 3, the thirty-year-old was the victim of the accidental shooting of a hunter who was participating in a wild boar hunt. He was hospitalized in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) in serious condition and had to have one of his legs amputated.

The walker would have arrived on the scene with two friends, two hours before the opening of the hunting party. The three men were walking in an area authorized for pedestrians. But the hunter, aged 82, would have mistakenly targeted the gatherer who was about twenty meters from him.

“I don’t excuse it”

Francis Giorgi, president of the Bormes-les-Mimosas hunting society, deplores this incident to France 3 PACA . “Being crippled at 38 is a tragedy. […] Any accident is a tragedy for us in the world of hunting”he assures while recalling that safety is a priority and that hunters follow training. “I’m not excusing it, we can’t shoot without identifying”he declares about the octogenarian who caused the accident.

The gendarmes are responsible for determining responsibilities in this matter. The hunter involved was taken into police custody and witnesses were interviewed. The investigation opened for “involuntary violence with a weapon” could be reclassified as “involuntary violence with a weapon resulting in permanent disability” after the amputation of the victim.