Homeowners, contractor look for answers in shooting
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
February 18, 2016
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/homeowners-and-contractor-look-for-answers-on-shooting/article_93fff4e4-5b03-11e7-80bc-10604b9f0f42.html
"What in the world were they doing in Graves County firing guns near so many houses?"
That's the question Graves County homeowner Kathleen Tindal wants answered after two Paducah police department-issued .308 caliber bullets struck her home on Jan. 27, narrowly missing a contractor who had been renovating the home's master bathroom.
Graves County sheriff's deputies responded to the Tindals' West Vaughn Road home near Mayfield that Wednesday morning to find two bullets. One was wedged in the bottom of a window of the home's glass-enclosed sunporch. The second had ricocheted off a ladder the contractor, Paul Hayden, was carrying before embedding in the porch's paneling. A glass tabletop that was leaning against one of the porch's walls was also shattered.
Tindal said she and her husband, John, were having coffee in the den, just on the other side of the wall from the sunporch, when they heard the shots.
"I heard this noise and didn't know what it was, and I thought that was awfully strange," Tindal said. "A few seconds later, my eye caught the contractor coming out the (bathroom door) that is connected to the sunporch, and I heard the noise again, and about that time all hell broke loose."
Tindal said they heard glass shattering, and she and her husband rushed out to the sunporch to see what had happened.
"At first I thought they dropped a ladder or something," she said. "I just thought 'What happened out there?' It all happened so fast. We went out there and (Hayden) was covered in glass. And that's when I said 'I'm calling 911.'"
After talking with the Tindals and Hayden, deputies canvassed the area looking for a possible shooter.
About a mile from the home, they located a black SUV that was registered to the Paducah Police Department. The SUV was parked near a gravel pit where three PPD officers - Capt. Joseph Hayes, Detective Brian Young and Officer Jarrett Woodruff - had been target practicing with high-powered rifles.
Graves Chief Deputy Davant Ramage was one of the officers called to the scene.
He said the Paducah officers were cooperative. They identified themselves as police officers and showed the deputies the three metal targets they had set up.
Ramage said the officers stated they had gotten permission from the gravel pit's owner to shoot there and that they had been accounting for their expended rounds.
One officer, Ramage said, mentioned two bullets had missed their targets, but he thought he had seen them hit the dirt.
The sheriff's report indicated that from where the targets had been set up, the officers were firing downhill "in the general direction" of the Tindals' house. The reports also states there "were hills and wooded areas" behind the targets and "no residences could be seen with the naked eye from where (the officers) were shooting."
Deputies collected the slugs from the Tindals' home as well as three boxes of ammunition and the rifles from the officers. Two of the rifles were department-issued Remington model 700s. The other was a personal weapon, a Springfield M1A, owned by one of the officers.
Everything was sent to the Kentucky State Police Central Lab in Frankfort for ballistics analysis. The ballistics report, which was released last week, showed the slugs collected from the Tindals' home were fired from the personal weapon.
As for Tindal and Hayden, they are still waiting for answers.
"I'm very angry about this," Tindal said. "It has upset all of us, and we're angry."
"The big question is what were they doing here, in Graves County? They've got their own facilities. And why were they dispersing such high-powered bullets with high-powered rifles in an area that was occupied? There are a lot of houses around here besides mine."
Hayden, who stated he is still rattled from the incident, said he wants to know what will be done to settle the matter.
"What about the innocent people (whose) lives could have been lost?" he said. "On Channel Six it talked about all the officers' years of experience. Well, what about talking about our lives and how this has disrupted us and our families? We were innocent bystanders."
The Sun asked Paducah Police Chief Brandon Barnhill for comment and received a statement from his office:
"We are in receipt of a copy of the Kentucky State Police firearms examination report. We have spoken to the Graves County Sheriff's Office and will continue to provide whatever information and resources necessary to aid their investigation. As we previously have stated to all parties involved, depending on the outcome, we will do what is right and work with all parties in finding a resolution."
Graves County Sheriff Dewayne Redmon said both the sheriff's report and the ballistics analysis were turned over to Graves Commonwealth Attorney David
Hargrove on Monday. He will decide if charges would be filed against any of the officers.
Hargrove said he is reviewing the information but could not yet comment on whether charges would follow. Hargrove added that if sufficient reason is found, the case would be presented to a grand jury in April.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
That's the question Graves County homeowner Kathleen Tindal wants answered after two Paducah police department-issued .308 caliber bullets struck her home on Jan. 27, narrowly missing a contractor who had been renovating the home's master bathroom.
Graves County sheriff's deputies responded to the Tindals' West Vaughn Road home near Mayfield that Wednesday morning to find two bullets. One was wedged in the bottom of a window of the home's glass-enclosed sunporch. The second had ricocheted off a ladder the contractor, Paul Hayden, was carrying before embedding in the porch's paneling. A glass tabletop that was leaning against one of the porch's walls was also shattered.
Tindal said she and her husband, John, were having coffee in the den, just on the other side of the wall from the sunporch, when they heard the shots.
"I heard this noise and didn't know what it was, and I thought that was awfully strange," Tindal said. "A few seconds later, my eye caught the contractor coming out the (bathroom door) that is connected to the sunporch, and I heard the noise again, and about that time all hell broke loose."
Tindal said they heard glass shattering, and she and her husband rushed out to the sunporch to see what had happened.
"At first I thought they dropped a ladder or something," she said. "I just thought 'What happened out there?' It all happened so fast. We went out there and (Hayden) was covered in glass. And that's when I said 'I'm calling 911.'"
After talking with the Tindals and Hayden, deputies canvassed the area looking for a possible shooter.
About a mile from the home, they located a black SUV that was registered to the Paducah Police Department. The SUV was parked near a gravel pit where three PPD officers - Capt. Joseph Hayes, Detective Brian Young and Officer Jarrett Woodruff - had been target practicing with high-powered rifles.
Graves Chief Deputy Davant Ramage was one of the officers called to the scene.
He said the Paducah officers were cooperative. They identified themselves as police officers and showed the deputies the three metal targets they had set up.
Ramage said the officers stated they had gotten permission from the gravel pit's owner to shoot there and that they had been accounting for their expended rounds.
One officer, Ramage said, mentioned two bullets had missed their targets, but he thought he had seen them hit the dirt.
The sheriff's report indicated that from where the targets had been set up, the officers were firing downhill "in the general direction" of the Tindals' house. The reports also states there "were hills and wooded areas" behind the targets and "no residences could be seen with the naked eye from where (the officers) were shooting."
Deputies collected the slugs from the Tindals' home as well as three boxes of ammunition and the rifles from the officers. Two of the rifles were department-issued Remington model 700s. The other was a personal weapon, a Springfield M1A, owned by one of the officers.
Everything was sent to the Kentucky State Police Central Lab in Frankfort for ballistics analysis. The ballistics report, which was released last week, showed the slugs collected from the Tindals' home were fired from the personal weapon.
As for Tindal and Hayden, they are still waiting for answers.
"I'm very angry about this," Tindal said. "It has upset all of us, and we're angry."
"The big question is what were they doing here, in Graves County? They've got their own facilities. And why were they dispersing such high-powered bullets with high-powered rifles in an area that was occupied? There are a lot of houses around here besides mine."
Hayden, who stated he is still rattled from the incident, said he wants to know what will be done to settle the matter.
"What about the innocent people (whose) lives could have been lost?" he said. "On Channel Six it talked about all the officers' years of experience. Well, what about talking about our lives and how this has disrupted us and our families? We were innocent bystanders."
The Sun asked Paducah Police Chief Brandon Barnhill for comment and received a statement from his office:
"We are in receipt of a copy of the Kentucky State Police firearms examination report. We have spoken to the Graves County Sheriff's Office and will continue to provide whatever information and resources necessary to aid their investigation. As we previously have stated to all parties involved, depending on the outcome, we will do what is right and work with all parties in finding a resolution."
Graves County Sheriff Dewayne Redmon said both the sheriff's report and the ballistics analysis were turned over to Graves Commonwealth Attorney David
Hargrove on Monday. He will decide if charges would be filed against any of the officers.
Hargrove said he is reviewing the information but could not yet comment on whether charges would follow. Hargrove added that if sufficient reason is found, the case would be presented to a grand jury in April.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
