WELDON SPRING, Mo. (KMOX) - It's still not clear how a hunter shot and injured a hiker, after mistaking him for a turkey, on a popular trail in St. Charles County.
It happened on the Lewis and Clark Trail, off Highway 94 in Weldon Spring, around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. St. Charles County Police Department spokeswoman Val Joyner called it, "just a really bad accident." The male hiker was taken to the hospital for his injuries.
This was the last weekend for the Spring firearms turkey hunting season in Missouri.
A long-distance runner that witnessed the incident, who we are not naming, talked to KMOX about what she saw and the limited signage designating that a hunting area.
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"It was a small, white sign. It didn't say danger, it didn't say stay out. It did say firearm," the runner said. "I learned something that day, that if I ever see a sign like that again, I'm getting back into my car and going home."
She said she didn't hear other gunshots, see any hunters or even see wildlife besides a chipmunk. She also hopes more signs are added to tell people to stay out during hunting season.
The question that has yet to be answered by conservation officials how is hunting allowed so close to the Lewis and Clark Trail where dozens and dozens of people walk, hike and run everyday.
Joyner tells KMOX the Missouri Department of Natural Resources is handling the investigation of the incident. KMOX has reached out to state conservation officials and we are awaiting a response.
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Another person who also came upon the scene of the shooting.
“It may have been an accident, but it is positively unforgivable that they allow people to hunt with firearms on Mother’s Day weekend on one of the most heavily traveled trails,” the runner told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “They need to mark that differently. There were families out there today with kids and dogs.”
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