CHELAN — A 36-year-old Port Angeles man has died in what authorities in Chelan County say was a freak hunting accident.
Timothy Neal Cook was killed instantly while he sat inside a pickup truck, Chelan County Coroner Wayne Harris said.
A man with whom he was hunting was unloading his rifle and it apparently discharged, said Jeff Middleton, chief criminal deputy for the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.
The bullet — discharged from about 20 yards away — passed through a metal gate and fragmented before piercing the rear window of the truck in which Cook was seated.
The bullet fragment hit him in the neck, Middleton said..
The name of the other man, who is from Lynnwood, was not released.
Cook, who lived in Port Angeles with his wife and daughter, had been hunting with two other men near on Bear Mountain Ranch Road, about 7 miles west of Chelan.
Dear season
Middleton did not know what the men were hunting but added that deer season had just opened.
The three hunters were out of cell phone range, so another hunter who was not with the group took them to an area where they could call authorities.
The 9-1-1 call went into the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office about 5:55 p.m. Sunday
The Lynnwood man told authorities that he was trying to unload rounds from his bolt-action rifle when it went off, firing the .270-caliber round that pierced the gate and ricocheted to Cook.
Middleton said that all three hunters knew each other and were friends.
The other two men were “very shaken,” he said.
Middleton said the shooting appeared to be accidental.
Chelan County Sheriff’s Office detectives were working on Monday to re-create the scene and determine exactly what happened.
Information for funeral services for Cook was not available on Monday.
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The Wenatchee World contributed to this report.
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
