Nov 20, 2006 3:42 pm US/Central
14-Year-Old Buffalo Boy Shot By Deer Hunter
by Heather Brown
Aitkin, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Brandon Lanie, a high school student from Buffalo, Minn., was shot and killed Nov. 18 by another hunter who said he thought Lanie was a deer.
Photo from Matthew Lubben
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Lanie was wearing blaze orange clothing at the time of the incident.
AP
A Buffalo, Minn. 14-year-old was killed in a hunting accident in Wealthwood Township, in southern Aitkin County, Saturday afternoon.
According to the Aitkin County Sheriff's Office, Brandon Mitchell Lanie was hunting with a group just north of Mille Lacs Lake when he was shot by a 45-year-old hunter from Maplewood, Minn. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"He was apparently mistaken for a deer," said Aitkin County Sheriff Scott Turner. "He was wearing blaze orange top and pants and the tragedy still happened."
The other hunter, who is expected to be charged with second-degree manslaughter, said he didn't know Lanie was in the woods.
The shooting happened just before 5 p.m. Saturday. Sunset in the area on Saturday would have been about 4:39 p.m. with twilight lasting until about 5:12 p.m., according to a U.S. Naval Observatory calculator.
Lanie and the hunter knew each other and had hunted together before. They have neighboring cabins on Mille Lacs Lake.
"He was just a neat kid. Always had a smile on his face. So happy go lucky," said Kim Sather, Lanie's aunt.
His family said he'd been hunting since he was nine and was adamant about hunting safety. A family friend is a gun safety expert.
"Anytime in his spare time, he'd be outside, he loved ice fishing too. He really loved the outdoors," said Sather.
A funeral for Lanie is scheduled at St. John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo on Friday morning at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests be made to memorial fund in Lanie's name they plan to open at Buffalo's KleinBank. The money will be used for future scholarships.
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