An Indiantown woman is suing a backyard gun range and several shooters after she was shot by a stray bullet from the neighboring range while in her backyard.
The incident occurred in January at a home near Southwest Arrowroot Street.
Heather Sitton says she was in her backyard with her young children and her animals when she was struck in her collarbone and shoulder by a bullet.
Now that Heather is out of the hospital and on her way to recovery, she is suing Americas Underground Construction & Farming LLC, the owners of the 30-acre Indiantown property, and the men who took turns firing the AR-15 and AK-47 in the direction of her home.
While the state of Florida makes it legal to have backyard shooting areas, owners must make reasonable safety measures and be knowledgeable about what is around the shooting area.
According to the report, several homes including Heather’s home are within firing range of the gun range:
“In our opinion, they violated the legal duty they owed to Heather and her family,” Gary Lesser one of Heather’s lawyers said. “Those bullets can fly over a mile. Sometimes over 2 miles.”
Officials also reported that the barrier around the shooting range only stands 5 feet tall and does not protect those around them from stray bullets.
The lawsuit claims that the facility should have built the berm higher and faced it in a direction away from homes. It also states that all parties involved should have known that firing a weapon in direction of nearby homes was hazardous.
After an investigation, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office says they did not pursue criminal charges because the shooting was accidental in nature.