Iowa man who accidentally shot Marine with air rifle fined

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - A 71-year-old Iowa City man who seriously wounded a U.S. Marine while shooting an air rifle at a squirrel has been fined $855 after pleading guilty in April to a misdemeanor.

The Press-Citizen reports that Philip Olson was issued the fine Thursday for violating an Iowa City ordinance prohibiting the discharge of toy guns and slingshots.

Police have said Olson was shooting at a squirrel in his yard last October when he hit then 20-year-old Gabe Heefner, of Kirkwood, Missouri, who was driving by.

Police found Heefner in a wrecked car with what looked like a gunshot wound to the head. At the time, Heefner was a lance corporal in the Marines who was in Iowa City visiting his grandparents and friends.