Local News

(AP) At least four hunters were shot in Minnesota during the opening weekend of the deer season. One was killed and another was in critical condition Monday.

All the shootings were under investigation by local authorities, however initial reports suggest they were all accidental.

The St. Louis County sheriff's office said it received a report on Sunday that Duane L. Kaster, 62, of rural Aurora, was shot by a 15-year-old member of Kaster's hunting party about 1 1/2 miles east of Biwabik on the Iron Range.

The sheriff's office said the shooting was reported as an accidental discharge of a firearm during cleaning. On Sunday night, Kaster was transported to the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

Kaster was critical condition on Monday, said HCMC spokeswoman Christine Hill.

In Brown County on Monday, the sheriff's office was investigating the shooting of Brooks Lee Marti, 26, of New Ulm, just after noon Sunday.

Officials said Marti was in a hunting party that was attempting to flush deer in a wooded area just east of Sleepy Eye when Marti was shot in the left arm by another person in the hunting party.

He was taken to the Sleepy Eye Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

In Clearwater County in northwest Minnesota, Sheriff Mike Erickson reported that Jeffrey Pike of Chaska accidentally shot himself about 1:30 p.m. Saturday when he put his gun down and it fired, striking his right biceps. He was taken to a Fargo, N.D., hospital.

Officials said Craig Rupp, 60, was shot in the chest Saturday morning in his hometown of Elbow Lake while hunting. Elbow Lake is about 80 miles northwest of Willmar in western Minnesota.

Authorities said Rupp was shot while others in his hunting party flushed deer out of tall grass. A deer jumped up and shots were fired. One of those shots hit Rupp, a Grant County commissioner.At least four hunters were shot in Minnesota during the opening weekend of the deer season, one fatally.
  
All the shootings were under investigation by local authorities, however initial reports suggest they were all accidental.
  
The St. Louis County sheriff's office said it received a report on Sunday that a 62-year-old man from rural Aurora was shot while hunting about 1 1/2 miles east of Biwabik on the Iron Range.
  
The man apparently was hit by another member of his hunting party. He was taken to the Virginia Regional Medical Center, then airlifted to a hospital in Duluth.
  
The hunter's name and condition were not released.
  
The Brown County Sheriff's Department was investigating on Monday the shooting of Brooks Lee Marti, 26, of New Ulm, just after noon Sunday.
  
Officials said Marti was in a hunting party that was attempting to flush deer in a wooded area just east of Sleepy Eye when Marti was shot in the left arm by another person in the hunting party.
  
He was taken to the Sleepy Eye Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
  
In Clearwater County in northwest Minnesota, Sheriff Mike Erickson reported that Jeffrey Pike of Chaska accidentally shot himself about 1:30 p.m. Saturday when he put his gun down and it fired, striking his right bicep. He was taken to a Fargo, N.D., hospital.
  
Officials said Craig Rupp, 60, was shot in the chest Saturday morning in his hometown of Elbow Lake while hunting. Elbow Lake is about 80 miles northwest of Willmar in western Minnesota.
  
Authorities said Rupp was shot while others in his hunting party flushed deer out of tall grass. A deer jumped up and shots were fired. One of those shots hit Rupp, a Grant County commissioner.

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