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Hunter shoots man after mistaking him for monkey

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20030729p2a00m0dm009000c.html


KOCHI -- A Kochi Prefecture resident suffered head injuries here 
early Tuesday after a hunter mistook him for a monkey and shot him, 
police said.

The resident, Hiroshi Tokorotani, 59, was hit with shotgun pellets in 
the left side of his head and his left check in the incident that 
occurred in the Kochi Prefecture district of Sukumo at about 8:25 
a.m. Tuesday, police said. His injuries are not life-threatening.

Police said they were questioning Takao Akitsuki, 64, the hunter who 
accidentally shot Tokorotani, on suspicion of professional negligence 
resulting in injury.

Investigators said Akitsuki had been out killing monkeys and wild 
boar in the area that morning after being requested to do so by 
Sukumo officials.

When he caught a glimpse of Tokorotani putting up a net to keep out 
harmful animals near his residence, he reportedly mistook him for a 
monkey and fired a shotgun blast.

"I saw a black object moving in the thicket, and it moved toward the 
mountains, so I thought it was a monkey," Akitsuki was quoted as 
telling police. (Wire reports, Japan, July 29, 2003)