SHOOTING TRAGEDY

Hunter, 74, Allegedly Kills Woman He Thought Was a Deer

Walter Moorhead was arrested following the shooting.

A 74-year-old man has been charged with manslaughter after allegedly killing a woman he mistook for a deer while on a hunting trip. Walter Moorhead, of Salisbury, Maryland, is accused of shooting and killing a 39-year-old woman while hunting in a field near Ellendale, Delaware, on Friday. Investigators say the victim was walking through the field with a man and two children when Moorhead, who was positioned in a hunting ground blind—a structure that hides a hunter’s appearance—fired at her with his rifle after believing she was a deer. The woman, who has not been identified pending her family being notified, received medical treatment from Delaware State troopers at the scene, but was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Moorhead has since been charged with manslaughter recklessly causing the death of another person, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and three counts of reckless endangering in the first degree. He was released on bail after posting a $43,000 cash bond. The Delaware State Police said the shooting remains under investigation and asked anyone with information about the incident to call its homicide unit.