BIGFOOT -- Shot and Killed!
CLARION, Pa. -- Hunters Fred and Gerald Doemer whooped it up after
shooting a huge, hairy monster they thought was a Bigfoot. But the
good old boys' joy turned to despair when they discovered they'd
gunned down a man who'd dressed in a gorilla suit -- to pull off an
elaborate Bigfoot hoax!
A medical examiner said Patrick Cergen, 32, of Clarion died of a
single shot to the chest from a .30-.30 rifle.
Cops have charged the Doemers, second cousins who live near
Philadelphia, with hunting deer out of season. They are investigating
to determine whether homicide charges will be filed against Gerald
Doemer, who fired the fatal shot.
"Obviously, there was negligence on someone's part, and a man is dead
because of it," said one law enforcement officer. "But we can't say
where the fault lies until all parties have been heard from."
The hunters told investigators they'd been prowling the woods west of
here most the day on May 6 without catching sight of a deer before
spotting what they thought was Bigfoot through the trees about 40
yards in front of them.
"What we saw looked like a gorilla, but this is Pennsylvania, not
Africa, so we figured it had to be Bigfoot," said Gerald, a
42-year-old auto mechanic. "When it turned like it was coming toward
us, we panicked. I had a clear shot and Fred yelled, 'Shoot the damn
thing!' so I shot.
"It let out a scream that sounded more human than animal and went down
hard -- and suddenly, these two guys with videocameras came running
out of the woods, screaming, 'Oh, no! Oh, no! You killed him!'
"Efforts to revive Cergen proved futile and he was later pronounced
dead at a hospital.
The witnesses, whom police have refused to identify, told
investigators they were shooting scenes of Cergen in the gorilla suit
in hopes of selling them to a TV station as shots of the elusive
Bigfoot.
"They said they thought it would be the most realistic Bigfoot hoax
ever," an officer said.
"In this case, I guess the getup was a little too realistic."
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