Heather Wright/The Independent

Mark Labadie wants hunters to be more aware of their surroundings after finding bullet holes in his garage.

The Pantry School Road man, who lives on the edge of Lambton County, discovered a hole in the roof of his garage early in November. He thought he’d damaged it with some long boards he was carrying around and thought nothing of it.

A week or so later, Labadie noticed his wife’s car was also damaged. A few days after that, Labadie found what was clearly a bullet hole in the car.

“So the bullet went through, hit the hood of her vehicle and then deflected off of it and went up into the ceiling,” Labadie said.

The Labadie’s home is about 700 yards from a bush. He suspects this was a hunting accident. “That person or individual was shooting, obviously, towards the house and maybe shooting at a deer, like in between the corn rows or something,” he tells The Independent, “because some of the corn was off, but not all of it. So he must have saw something and took a shot at it.”

Chatham-Kent Police came out to investigate and were amazed the couple avoided injury. Police told Labadie, “You’re awful lucky or you’re awful blessed, either one.’ I prefer the latter,” he said.
While no one was injured, Labadie hopes that by going public with his concerns, hunters will be more aware of their surroundings.

“If you’re shooting that far away from something and that like one, you need to be either more patient or be a little closer.”