http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-35/125389021153910.xml&coll=7
Man charged with reckless gun use at guns-rights picnic Friday, September 25, 2009
Kalamazoo BY REX HALL JR.
rhall@kalamazoogazette.com
(269) 388-7784
SOUTH HAVEN -- A Kalamazoo man attending a gun-rights picnic at South Haven's South Beach has been charged with reckless use of a firearm after his weapon discharged, police said Thursday.
Jonathan Wayne Sager, 28, was unloading his semiautomatic handgun and preparing it for transport after the Sept. 13 picnic when it discharged at 5:44 p.m., said Chief Rod A. Somerlott of the South Haven Police Department.
A warrant authorized Wednesday by the Van Buren County Prosecutor's Office charged Sager with reckless use of a firearm, which is a misdemeanor, South Haven police said in a press release issued Thursday.
Somerlott said they wanted to complete their investigation before issuing the press release.
No one was struck by the bullet that was discharged.
Somerlott said officers found remnants of the bullet in the parking lot, leading police to conclude the gun was pointed in a downward direction when it was fired.
``Was his intention to fire the gun? No,'' Somerlott said. ``At least, I don't believe so.''
However, police said they believe about 150 beachgoers left the area voluntarily after the shot was fired.
Police responded to the area after receiving calls about the gunshot being fired. They later stopped Sager, who was riding in a friend's pickup truck, and three friends in the 800 block of LaGrange Street.
At the time of the stop, Somerlott said Sager and his friends told police they were looking for the local police station so they could report the incident.
At the scene of the stop, Sager's weapon was checked and returned to him and he was allowed to leave, police said.
Sager voluntarily turned himself in Wednesday at Van Buren County District Court following the issuance of a misdemeanor warrant and was later released pending a formal court arraignment, a news release said.
Sager and his friends had attended a picnic on the afternoon of Sept. 13 that was organized by Michigan Open Carry, which promotes awareness of the state law that allows citizens to openly carry a firearm in most places.