From ConnexionFrance.com
February 18, 2018
A man in his late 60s has been shot dead during a wild boar hunt gone wrong near Toulon in the Var.
The man, who lived in the Toulouse area and was reportedly taking part in the hunt at Solliès-Ville, received a bullet to the chest the morning of Saturday February 17, according to the prosecutor of the République, Bernard Marchal, speaking to local newspaper Var-Matin.
Another man who was also taking part in the hunt has been taken into custody for investigation after the incident, but no-one has yet been charged, and the sequence of events is yet to be confirmed.
According to early reports from the gendarmerie de La-Valette-du-Var, one of the hunters fired three shots at a boar, apparently without hitting it, from his position in a watchtower to one side of the hunting area.
Wanting to warn his hunting mate, who was reportedly stationed in another watchtower a few hundred metres away, the man called out but heard no reply, and so went to look for him.
He then reportedly found the man lying on the ground, with his rifle at his side.
The shooter, another man in his 60s, was taken into custody but released a day later, and claims that he only ever shot at the “defined angles” allowed in the hunting area.
Investigators are this morning (Sunday February 18) set to use lasers to research the angles of the shots made, alongside research on the ground next to the dead man’s watchtower, in an attempt to judge how he fell, as well as find the bullet that killed him.
An autopsy on the dead man is expected early next week.
The man’s death is only the latest in a number of tragedies seen during animal hunts in recent months; in September 2017, a 13-year-old boy was accidentally shot dead by his grandfather on a hunting trip, and a 57-year-old man was killed on a hunt in the Alpes-Maritimes, while in November, a man who acted as a hunt beater – helping to flush out stag for others to hunt – was gored by a young stag.