US woman dies after neighbour mistakes her for deer, shoots her

Wednesday was a typical afternoon, but an exciting one - Thanksgiving was the next day, and American Jamie Billquist and his wife, Rosemary, would partake in one of their favourite traditions: the Turkey Trot.

Rosemary Billquist, 43, got home from work about 5pm, and left shortly after to walk the couple's dogs, Stella and Sugar, near the field behind their Sherman, New York, house. Jamie Billquist, 47, stayed at home, watching television.

A little while later, the dogs came racing to the back of the house, barking loudly. Billquist panicked. He tried calling Rosemary's cellphone but she didn't pick up.

"I thought, 'Something might've happened to Rosemary'," he said. "Maybe she fell."



As he put his phone down, ambulances showed up outside the house. An EMT who is a friend of Billquist's rushed to the field, saying someone had been shot.

Moments later, Billquist learned that it was his wife.

A neighbour, Thomas Jadlowski, thought he saw a deer in his back yard 182 metres away and fired a single shot. Then he heard a scream. Realising he'd shot a person, he ran out to help, said Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office officials in a news release.