Hunter
12/15/21
The Iowa City man who has been accused of accidentally shooting and wounding a Marine this past October has pleaded not guilty in his initial court appearance.
69-year-old Philip Olson was shooting at squirrels in his yard, using a .22 caliber air rifle loaded with a metal pellet, but instead hit 20-year-old Lance Corporal Gabe Heefner as he was driving by on Highway 6 East. Heefner made it to the intersection with Sycamore Street when he crashed. He suffered severe injuries and was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He currently is in a Chicago rehab hospital.
Olson reportedly turned himself in three days after the shooting and admitted to shooting from inside his house at a squirrel but missing. He surrendered the air rifle to police and showed them the tree he had been shooting at. Fired pellets were reportedly recovered from the tree.
Olson has been charged with discharging a pellet gun within city limits. A loophole in the law prevents Olson from being charged with reckless use of a firearm because a pellet gun is technically not a firearm.
Olson paid $450 in fines related to the incident levied by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources; hunting without a license, hunting without a habitat fee, unlawfully taking or attempting to take squirrels, and firing over a highway.
The Gazette reports that Heefner is improving, but still has a long way to go in his rehabilitation.
Olson’s non-jury trial is scheduled for February 24th.