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General News: Gunshots, Fire Lead to Arrests on Mountain
November 13, 2011
A group of men, mostly in their twenties, created havoc on Storm King Mountain on Saturday night when they allegedly shot off rounds of bullets around a blazing campfire, drawing the attention of neighbors.
Cornwall-on-Hudson police responded to complaints shortly after 10 pm . Village police officer John Pena said he went up Mountain Road where he heard several shots coming from the woods. He called the Palisades Park Police, who are responsible for law enforcement in the Storm King State Park.
Two village officers were joined by an officer from the town of Cornwall and two from the Palisades police, along with a unit of Storm King Fire Engine Company, as they headed up the trail looking for the source of the gunshots. Alan Douches, who lives nearby, says he alerted police, then helped guide them to the location of the bonfire, which he could see through his high-powered telescope.
“It was surreal because this clearly wasn’t one weapon but multiple with rounds of ten or twelve shots within five seconds,” Douches said on Sunday. “We wondered, what’s going on?”
Officer Pena said that at first he thought the sound he heard was fireworks, but soon realized it was gunfire.
It took two hours for the police officers to locate the source of the gunfire. They walked through the trails, illuminated in part by the nearly full moon, and finally located the campers and bonfire about halfway up the mountain.
The six men were marched back down to Mountain Road and taken to the Cornwall-on-Hudson police station. Palisades Park police ultimately charged them with trespassing after dark, making fires, having firearms (a shotgun and a hangun), disturbing the peace and violation of the open container law.
Those arrested are Robert Hunt, 27, of Cornwall, Mario Bertorelli, 21, of Montgomery, Tomas Manngarad, 25, of Monroe, Sean Farrell, 25, Jason Vanaken, 30, and Neil Wronkoski, 24, all of Kingston.
Comments:
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Maybe the next 10pm complaints from villagers will be from the sounds of late night flights landing at Stewart Airport with teams of NRA lawyers descending to protect the rights of these people to discharge firearms at Storm King State Park, which expressly prohibits any such activity.
posted by Rick Gioia on 11/13/11 at 8:21 PM
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Ummm, Rick? What does that even mean? Do you have a point or are you just rambling off random nonsense?
posted by Frank Vido on 11/14/11 at 9:26 AM
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Wow, they sound like really charming young men. I was going to make some kind of comment about what I did to alleviate small town boredom when I was a teenager, but realized that these Mensa candidates are in their mid to late 20's.
I'm sure they have bright futures ahead of them.
posted by Ted Warren on 11/14/11 at 10:06 AM
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Hmmm....booze, fire among dry leaves, guns, gunshots...Sounds like a great movie script! Cut to the argument, a gunfight and forest fire scene.
They were darned lucky the police saved them from themselves.
posted by Vivien Collens on 11/14/11 at 10:45 AM
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Nice unprovoked attack on the NRA. As a proud member of the NRA I can tell you that these idiots are not the kind of responsible gun owners that belong to that fine organization. To make a general statement that any moron shooting into the air would be protected by the NRA is insulting. It would be like assuming if they had an ?Occupy Storm King? sign that you would not only condone their behavior but chain yourself to a tree to protect them. That just wouldn?t be nice!
posted by Jim McGee on 11/14/11 at 11:52 AM
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Well said Mr. McGee!
posted by J Klein on 11/14/11 at 12:00 PM
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Fair enough, Jim. It's always dangerous to generalize. However, you might want to take a look at the front page of today's New York Times for a different story on gun pervasiveness and violence. It's a harrowing account of what can result from a lax enforcement of gun laws. Here's an excerpt:
"...While previously a small number of felons were able to reclaim their gun rights, the process became commonplace in many states in the late 1980s, after Congress started allowing state laws to dictate these reinstatements ? part of an overhaul of federal gun laws orchestrated by the National Rifle Association. The restoration movement has gathered force in recent years, as gun rights advocates have sought to capitalize on the 2008 Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment protects an individual?s right to bear arms."
posted by Rick Gioia on 11/14/11 at 12:16 PM
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I heard the gunfire on Saturday night and wondered what it was. Thank you to Officer Pena and the Park police for tracking down the source of the trouble. Obviously these men weren't thinking......alcohol and guns DO NOT mix. I hope that if they are licensed gun owners, they QUICKLY have their licenses revoked.
posted by maureen spaulding on 11/14/11 at 12:26 PM
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For those who were unaware - this wasn't an individual rifle shot. Or even a couple shots heard far up the mountain by a small group of campers who encountered a coyote or black bear. These gunshots went on for a couple hours. Dozens of people were calling the police department. There are several homes with children within a several hundred yards from where this was all happening.
I gotta say, that having watched part of this take place, the Cornwall and Cornwall on Hudson police handled themselves amazingly. I heard them say more than once that they were concerned that no one got hurt - no one.
I strongly agree with Vivien. One or more of these young guys could have been killed or seriously injured.
posted by Alan Douches on 11/14/11 at 12:59 PM
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