The Molenaar family recently came home to an unpleasant surprise – something had smashed their glass patio doors.
At first, they thought it might have been a bird, but the force required to break the glass made that unlikely. But after canvassing their neighbours, the source was discovered: two loud gunshots, heard earlier in the day.
Dan Molenaar said police would later investigate and find the bullet, likely shot by a hunter, embedded in an exterior wood wall on the deck of their Eagle Lake-area house.
“My concern is that this is a fairly populated neighbourhood in the community,” Molenaar said. “The fact that somebody would recklessly discharge a firearm without knowing the backdrop of where that projectile could potentially hit was just extremely reckless behaviour.”
Haliburton Highlands OPP confirmed the account. However, after police spoke with neighbours, Molenaar said they determined nobody from the area was hunting that day. The culprits are unknown, and the investigation reached a dead end, leaving the family to clean up and pay for $6,000 in damage to the impacted doors.
Molenaar said he is an experienced hunter. He said he has never encountered something such as this.
“Ethically hunting is a fantastic sport, but obviously there are individuals out there that may think differently and unfortunately give all hunters a bad name,” he said. “Police were shocked – I thought it might be something that’s fairly common. Apparently not.”
He said he and his wife were away at the time, but the bullet passed by areas of the house they frequent.
“I don’t think the hunter realized he could have endangered somebody’s life,” he said.
The couple is not sure if the culprit is aware of what happened. They hope that by sharing their story, the persons responsible might come forward.
“That’s what I’m struggling with,” Diane Molenaar said. “Just disappointed that nobody’s come forward.”
Anyone with information can contact the Haliburton Highlands OPP at 705-286- 1431, 1-888-310-122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
