Mystery Bullet In Rowlett

[carlson1]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Mystery- ... 64549.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Local News

Mystery bullet injures man in Rowlett yard

by SHON GABLES

WFAA

Posted on June 13, 2010 at 10:01 PM


ROWLETT — The mysterious shooting of Michael Domin — a husband and father of five — is the focus of a major investigation in Rowlett.

While sitting on a tractor in his own backyard on Saturday afternoon, he was struck in the back with a .22-caliber bullet.

Domin's wife Toni, too shaken to speak on camera, said he's lucky to be alive. "He managed to turn the machine off and come to the door and he collapsed on the kitchen floor and said, 'I think I'm shot!' And I was like, 'What?!'"

Police are investigating where the bullet came from. Garland's public shooting range sits about a mile away from the Domins' backyard.

"I can hear the popping of the guns when they shoot them," said Gail Cepak, a neighbor of the victim. "You can hear them many nights."

If the bullet came from that location, it would have had to travel through the City of Garland's dump as well as an abandoned church building before speeding over the Domins' wooden fence.

Police said they don't believe the shooting was intentional.

"I think its a one-in-a-million time deal that happened," said neighbor Ronnie Cepak. "It's not like a war zone out here on a regular basis."

Domin's wife, however, believes the shooter may have taken aim from the ten acres of tree-lined property directly behind their backyard. She said the bullet nicked her husband's pancreas and lodged in his lung.

"He had his breathing tube taken out this morning. He's talking, he's moving, and there's no damage to his spine," Toni Domin said. "He'll make a full recovery."

Neighbors like Ryan Nguyen said they plan to be extra careful while spending time outdoors. "Especially if I'm mowing the lawn ... I would be afraid and look behind my back and see what's going on," he said.

We checked; a .22-caliber projectile can travel approximately one mile in a straight line.

E-mail sgables@wfaa.com

[Beiruty]

I have been to the Garland Range and they have high brims. Most likely someone was plinking in his backyard and shot the guy. This is pure speculation and needs some investigation. One issue, is that if the Map "pointer" is correct, that puts that pointer in the line of the fire of rifle shooters at Garland. Scary!

[secure]

Stories like this definitely put the fear into the community. I sure hope Garland range is not at blame. That would be a big hit on the shooting community.

[baldeagle]

I shoot at the Garland Public Shooting Range. For someone to shoot from that range and reach into Mr. Domin's yard at an angle sufficient to clear his fence and hit him on his riding lawn mower, they would have to be aiming very high. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but it would be one of the least likely possibilities that I could think of. It would be very interesting to know the angle of the entry wound.

[Beiruty]

Most likely, if the source of bullet is GPR. GPR would be forced to install Wood Bullet Traps, those Rectangle bracket installed along the range down through the line of fire to trap any high flying bullet. Basically, shooters would shoot in a virtual box.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

There's no mystery to this bullet.

Lee Harvey Oswald switched out the barrel on his Mannlicher-Carcano
to the .22 flavor before he left the Book Depository.

Being on the 6th floor, he reached Rowlett easily. :-)

SIA

[CrimsonSoul]

I'm not sure on the range of a .22 but if the article is correct in that it can fire one mile and the range is about that far away the shooter would have had to be aiming extremely high in order to make it that far because of gravity, Maybe practicing his plunging fire effectiveness?

[Mike1951]

I sent this to the alleged reporter.

We checked; a .22-caliber projectile can travel approximately one mile in a straight line.

Uh, no! A .22 can reach one mile if fired at a 45 degree upward angle, resulting in a high arc trajectory.

Once it is fired, it begins to fall to the ground at 32 feet per second. A six foot person firing the rifle level means the bullet would hit the ground in 1/5 second.

The velocity of .22 rimfire rounds is from 1000-1300 feet per second. So in that 1/5 second, the farthest the bullet could go when fired level would be from 200-260 feet.

Therefore, rifles are not fired level. Sights are adjusted so that the barrel is angled upward to the degree necessary to extend its range as needed by the shooter.

Sights do not allow sufficient elevation to reach a mile. Someone had to aim the rifle upwards at a 45 angle, which means it could not have crossed adjoining properties level. It would have been dropping from its high arc.

Mike Earls

I think my numbers are close.

[The Annoyed Man]

I sent this to the alleged reporter.

We checked; a .22-caliber projectile can travel approximately one mile in a straight line.

Uh, no! A .22 can reach one mile if fired at a 45 degree upward angle, resulting in a high arc trajectory.

Once it is fired, it begins to fall to the ground at 32 feet per second. A six foot person firing the rifle level means the bullet would hit the ground in 1/5 second.

The velocity of .22 rimfire rounds is from 1000-1300 feet per second. So in that 1/5 second, the farthest the bullet could go when fired level would be from 200-260 feet.

Therefore, rifles are not fired level. Sights are adjusted so that the barrel is angled upward to the degree necessary to extend its range as needed by the shooter.

Sights do not allow sufficient elevation to reach a mile. Someone had to aim the rifle upwards at a 45 angle, which means it could not have crossed adjoining properties level. It would have been dropping from its high arc.

Mike Earls

I think my numbers are close.

Which would also explain how it traveled "through" (actually over) a church and other structures before hitting the poor guy who got shot.

[wheelgun1958]

The article didn't state what round it might have been. Lots of 223 is fired there. Funny thing is that WFAA (link) says he was sitting on a tractor and the Rowlett news (link) says he was working on his pool.

Reminds me of the 50BMG at TMS that just HAD to come from Quail Creek even though the Creek range points north, not south.

[BrianSW99]

WFAA posted an update story tonight on the mystery bullet:

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Rowlett- ... 07809.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like they still think it came from the Garland range.

[Beiruty]

Bad news, however, the police spokesman said "Speculations...." so how can they file charges or prove guilt or responsibility?
I just wanted to go tomorrow with my dad to said range for father and son shooting, now I have some concerns.

[BrianSW99]

If the trajectory of the shots show that it could have been fired from the Garland range, then I think that's probably a reasonable assumption. I seriously doubt any charges would be filed in this case because it would be extremely difficult to prove who did it, even if the range had video surveillance of every shooter on the line. It could however cause some problems for the range if the city were to try and shut them down or impose stricter regulations.

If they really found a second hole in the roof, that's even more disturbing. To me, that means someone must have intentionally fired over the berm, especially with both shots landing so close together. I could believe someone might accidentally fire a round over the berm, but two in the same spot no longer seems accidental.

[TheArmedFarmer]

http://www.kfdm.com/news/range-39277-bullet-domin.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Domin's lawsuit requests that the outdoor range ban longer-distance ammunition and install more safety barriers.
...
Rowlett police determined the bullet was on a downward trajectory, but police spokesman John Ellison says "there is no actual evidence that would support the fact that the bullet was fired from the range."