A hunter killed a woman walking her dogs earlier this week after he mistook her for a deer, according to authorities.
The hunter, 31-year-old Thomas Jadlowski, fatally shot Rosemary Billquist in her hip with his pistol Wednesday after believing he saw a deer, Newsweek reported Friday.
Jadlowski realized he hadn’t shot a deer after hearing Billquist scream and ran over to her to try and save her. Despite his best efforts at trying to stop the blood in her hip wound, Billquist died at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
“This is a horrific incident,” Sheriff Joe Gerace said. “This destroyed two lives.”
Jadlowski has yet to be charged in the shooting and is working with investigators as they look into the situation. He may have violated a New York law that forbids hunting after sunset, since the fatal shooting reportedly happened at 5:24 p.m, according to authorities.
Billiquist’s husband, Jamie, added that his wife had been shot while on their neighbor’s land and Jadlowski did not have the neighbor’s permission to be hunting on his land. The sheriff’s office, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation and the District Attorneys office are all collaborating to see if any charges should be pursued.
Billiquist’s friends and family all gathered to host a vigil Thursday to honor her life, while her husband took to Facebook to remember his late wife.
“I want to say thank you very much from my heart it means a lot and I know she’s touched so many lives with her kindness and would help anyone no matter what plz everyone have thanksgiving with your family’s and enjoy those moments they are precious Rosemary Jafarjian-Billquist I will miss you and love you forever and I know you dancing in heaven with your momma and all of our friends and family that we have lost,” he wrote.
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