Gun control is becoming an increasingly dangerous problem in America leading to thousands of deaths every year and several mass shooting incidents that have shook the nation. A similar incident occurred in Sherman, New York on Wednesday when a 43-year-old woman was fatally shot just a few minutes away from home by a man who mistook her for a deer.
Who was Rosemary?
Rosemary Billquist, 43, with her husband
43-year-old Rosemary Billquist lived in her New York home with husband and two Labrador retrievers named Stella and Sugar. On Wednesday, she returned home from work earlier than usual and decided to take her two dogs on a walk. Around 5.30 p.m. Rosemary left while husband, Jamie, decided to stay at home. It had been less than 20 minutes after his wife had left when Jamie heard the barking of his two dogs outside the house.
According to the interview that he gave after the incident, Jamie said that the dogs had returned without Rosemary and were barking with a sense of urgency that made him think that something had happened to his wife.
An Unfortunate Incident
With his heart racing, Jamie rushed outside the house to get his dogs, only to hear the sirens of an ambulance blaring from far away. As the sound got nearer and nearer, he got increasingly scared that something may have happened to Rosemary.
He was right. Jamie quickly took out his phone from the pocket to call his wife but instead of hearing a familiar voice on the other end, he heard a man say that there had been a shooting and the victim was none other than his own wife, Rosemary.
Why Was She Shot?
Thomas Jadlowski (on the right), the man who accidentally shot his neighbor
How could have a woman been shot in a safe neighborhood while walking her dogs? The authorities say that Rosemary had been shot by one of her own neighbors, a trained hunter named Jadlowski, who fired the gun thinking that he had seen a deer. When he heard Rosemary’s scream he ran out towards the field 200 yards away from his house where he saw the wounded woman lying on the ground, covered in her own blood.
After calling 911, Jadlowski heard the injured woman’s phone ringing in her pocket – it was her husband calling. He picked up and told him what had happened and where to meet him. By the time Jamie got there, his wife had stopped breathing. Jamie said that he and his wife knew Jadlowski for years and there was a friendly relationship between the two neighbors.
There was no way that the hunter could have shot at the woman with a malicious intent, but at the same time, Jamie said that he was surprised that Jadlowski shot at something without knowing what it was. The authorities said that it was against the law to hunt after sunset which meant that even if Jadlowski had the intention of killing a deer, his action was punishable by law.
In Memory of His Beloved Wife
In an interview, Jamie recalled the day he met his wife Rosemary in 1990 while strolling around a shopping mall with his friend. He was 20 years old and she was 17 at the time. Jamie confessed to his friend that he really liked Rosemary and wanted to take her on a date. First date turned into a marriage proposal a few years later and the two made a beautiful home together in Jamestown, New York.
The man who shot Rosemary was charged with manslaughter and after-hours hunting on Thursday. He is expected to face ten to fifteen years in prison with bail set to $50,000. The authorities say that they do not suspect that the shooting was intentional, but had Jadlowski followed the law, the situation could have been avoided.
