UNION PARISH, La. (KTVE/KARD) – On Sunday, February 5, 2023, deputies were dispatched to the Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge near Pace Brown Road in the Dean community of Marion in reference to a shooting. Upon arrival, deputies and detectives from the Criminal Investigations Division began investigating the circumstances that left a man wounded.
NBC 10 learned that 39-year-old Tony McKinnie and 33-year-old Cody Ebey were hunting squirrels in the federal wildlife refuge. Both men stated that a group of feral hogs began to attack one of their squirrel dogs. When one of the hogs charged McKinnie, Ebey attempted to separate their dog from the group.
McKinnie was then knocked to the ground as the hog struck him in the leg. McKinnie attempted to fire a 17 HMR rifle at the hog while falling. Instead of hitting the hog, the gunshot hit Ebey in the arm. McKinnie then began to assist Ebey and he was transported to a local hospital.
The investigation determined that the bullet passed through the victim’s arm and then lodged in his leg. Both men stated that the shooting was accidental and this incident remains under investigation, in coordination with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries- Enforcement Division and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
