BARRINGTON, NH — Todd Markusic got more than he bargained for when he took his dog for a walk Saturday.
He and his family had heard people target shooting nearby, but the shots sounded far away and not in the sand pit behind their home on Oak Hill Road. So he decided it was safe to walk the dog.
He had just entered the clearing where the sand pit is located when moments later a bullet whizzed over his head. He and his wife Theresa "Terri" Markusic immediately called police who arrived a short time later to investigate, but by that time the target shooters had left the area.
It's not the first time that residents on the newly completed subdivision on Oak Hill Road have had near misses with stray bullets, Terri Markusic said, including her next door neighbors who were also walking their dog when a bullet passed in front of their faces. And Terri Markusic said her family and her neighbors continue to hear shots being fired nearby.
"I just heard shots yesterday," she said Wednesday at her home. "You think it's far away but it's not."
Since the near miss, the Markusics are not letting their 10-year-old son and his friends, who often like to go four-wheeling in the sand pit and on local trails, venture in that direction alone.
What concerns residents so much is that target shooters are firing their guns in the direction of the new houses, four of which directly abut the open space including the Markusic's home. Terri Markusic pointed out tins cans riddled with what she said were bullet holes set on a slope closest to the houses, and surmised that the target shooters were firing from the opposite side of the clearing near a trail.
Police Chief Richard Conway said that people are accessing the sand pit from Scruton Pond Road off a private trail. While police can advise those people it's no longer safe to shoot in the area with houses so close by, they cannot stop them from target practicing because the land and the trail are privately owned.
Terri Markusic said that the developer who built the 17 new houses on Oak Hill Road set aside about 20 acres of that land for a conservation easement, which includes the clearing and sand pit behind her home. Each of the homeowners owns one-seventeenth of that property.
"The families here pay taxes on that property which was not intended as a shooting range for local sportsmen who think it is just OK to shoot around homes," Terri Markusic said.
The residents have yet to form a homeowners' association, so they are waiting to post no trespassing and no hunting signs, she added.
"I don't even know if that would help because some people don't pay attention to signs," she also said. "I just don't want anyone to get hurt."
Markusic said she believes police have been responsive to reports of shots being fired nearby, and she hopes they will continue to tell people to not shoot in the area. She also said she recognizes that police can't sit in the clearing all the time waiting for the target shooters.
Conway said his officers only can access the area by foot or four-wheeler, and the shooters are often long gone by the time police arrive. He said Saturday's incident was the first report his department had received of a near shooting.
"Thankfully no one was injured, though it came close," he said. He also noted the target shooters could be quite a distance away, but the bullets could have ricocheted off a rock or other object and caused the close call for Todd Markusic.
Another problem area for target shooting, Conway added, is on the Tam Posi conservation easement, located off Route 125. Police regularly respond to calls of people shooting firearms in a sand pit on private land there.
Terri Markusic wishes the owner of the trail would gate it, but people also could still access the pit by going behind Calef's Country Store, she said.
"There's other places they can shoot, though," she added. "This is just an accident waiting to happen."
She also said her family moved to Barrington nearly a year ago to escape the buildup of stores near their previous home in Somersworth and to enjoy a rural lifestyle.
"As my husband and I are originally from a city, we work hard to enjoy the area we now live in," she said. "Children should be able to play in their own backyard safely without the fear of being shot."
Enjoying open spaces and a rural home is becoming more difficult as housing developments crop up in Barrington and the region.
While the number of homes built in Barrington dropped from 84 houses in 2005 to 74 houses in 2006, the town struggles to adequately provide services to more residents.
It also often finds its resources spread thin, such as police trying to respond to simultaneous calls on opposite ends of the 48-square mile town.
"The whole area is growing," Conway said. "People say, "I used to be able to go in the woods when I was a kid without worrying,' but things change and property changes hands."
He added that is why there is a problem of people shooting near residences, and those who are usually target practicing do not know the area or that a new development has been built.
"It's one of those things (you try to deal with) as the area grows and more and more houses are built," he also said.
The police chief strongly advises residents to not venture out to investigate when they hear shots they think are close to their home.
Instead he asks them to call police department after making sure their families are safely inside.
"We will come out to check," he added. "We'll come in and try to listen to see what direction it's coming from."
Pit1 John Huff/Staff photographer Terri Markusic walks around the sand pit in back of her Barrington home where people go to practice shooting firearms. Her husband, Todd, was almost hit by a stray bullet while walking their dog near their home recently.
Discuss
He and his family had heard people target shooting nearby, but the shots sounded far away and not in the sand pit behind their home on Oak Hill Road. So he decided it was safe to walk the dog.
He had just entered the clearing where the sand pit is located when moments later a bullet whizzed over his head. He and his wife Theresa "Terri" Markusic immediately called police who arrived a short time later to investigate, but by that time the target shooters had left the area.
It's not the first time that residents on the newly completed subdivision on Oak Hill Road have had near misses with stray bullets, Terri Markusic said, including her next door neighbors who were also walking their dog when a bullet passed in front of their faces. And Terri Markusic said her family and her neighbors continue to hear shots being fired nearby.
"I just heard shots yesterday," she said Wednesday at her home. "You think it's far away but it's not."
Since the near miss, the Markusics are not letting their 10-year-old son and his friends, who often like to go four-wheeling in the sand pit and on local trails, venture in that direction alone.
What concerns residents so much is that target shooters are firing their guns in the direction of the new houses, four of which directly abut the open space including the Markusic's home. Terri Markusic pointed out tins cans riddled with what she said were bullet holes set on a slope closest to the houses, and surmised that the target shooters were firing from the opposite side of the clearing near a trail.
Police Chief Richard Conway said that people are accessing the sand pit from Scruton Pond Road off a private trail. While police can advise those people it's no longer safe to shoot in the area with houses so close by, they cannot stop them from target practicing because the land and the trail are privately owned.
Terri Markusic said that the developer who built the 17 new houses on Oak Hill Road set aside about 20 acres of that land for a conservation easement, which includes the clearing and sand pit behind her home. Each of the homeowners owns one-seventeenth of that property.
"The families here pay taxes on that property which was not intended as a shooting range for local sportsmen who think it is just OK to shoot around homes," Terri Markusic said.
The residents have yet to form a homeowners' association, so they are waiting to post no trespassing and no hunting signs, she added.
"I don't even know if that would help because some people don't pay attention to signs," she also said. "I just don't want anyone to get hurt."
Markusic said she believes police have been responsive to reports of shots being fired nearby, and she hopes they will continue to tell people to not shoot in the area. She also said she recognizes that police can't sit in the clearing all the time waiting for the target shooters.
Conway said his officers only can access the area by foot or four-wheeler, and the shooters are often long gone by the time police arrive. He said Saturday's incident was the first report his department had received of a near shooting.
"Thankfully no one was injured, though it came close," he said. He also noted the target shooters could be quite a distance away, but the bullets could have ricocheted off a rock or other object and caused the close call for Todd Markusic.
Another problem area for target shooting, Conway added, is on the Tam Posi conservation easement, located off Route 125. Police regularly respond to calls of people shooting firearms in a sand pit on private land there.
Terri Markusic wishes the owner of the trail would gate it, but people also could still access the pit by going behind Calef's Country Store, she said.
"There's other places they can shoot, though," she added. "This is just an accident waiting to happen."
She also said her family moved to Barrington nearly a year ago to escape the buildup of stores near their previous home in Somersworth and to enjoy a rural lifestyle.
"As my husband and I are originally from a city, we work hard to enjoy the area we now live in," she said. "Children should be able to play in their own backyard safely without the fear of being shot."
Enjoying open spaces and a rural home is becoming more difficult as housing developments crop up in Barrington and the region.
While the number of homes built in Barrington dropped from 84 houses in 2005 to 74 houses in 2006, the town struggles to adequately provide services to more residents.
It also often finds its resources spread thin, such as police trying to respond to simultaneous calls on opposite ends of the 48-square mile town.
"The whole area is growing," Conway said. "People say, "I used to be able to go in the woods when I was a kid without worrying,' but things change and property changes hands."
He added that is why there is a problem of people shooting near residences, and those who are usually target practicing do not know the area or that a new development has been built.
"It's one of those things (you try to deal with) as the area grows and more and more houses are built," he also said.
The police chief strongly advises residents to not venture out to investigate when they hear shots they think are close to their home.
Instead he asks them to call police department after making sure their families are safely inside.
"We will come out to check," he added. "We'll come in and try to listen to see what direction it's coming from."
Pit1 John Huff/Staff photographer Terri Markusic walks around the sand pit in back of her Barrington home where people go to practice shooting firearms. Her husband, Todd, was almost hit by a stray bullet while walking their dog near their home recently.
Discuss
