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CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #9744 Rating: 3.2 out of 5
Thursday, Sep 21, 2006
County: Koochiching
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Wade Pilloud
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
A school principal has resigned and could face felony firearm charges after he shot and killed two orphaned kittens on school property last month.
Wade Pilloud, who resigned as principal of the K-12 Indus school, 40 miles west of International Falls, said he shot the kittens to spare them from starving to death after their mother was killed in an animal trap.
Pilloud said the shooting, which occurred on school grounds, endangered no one.
"I have bred cats, and I currently own two myself," he wrote Friday in an e-mail to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "I am not a cat hater. I did not want the animals to suffer."
The incident happened Sept. 21, and several students still on the grounds for after-school activities heard the shots.
"There were parents who felt, apparently some rather strongly, that there were concerns about the safety of their children," said Joseph Flynn, an attorney for the South Koochiching/Rainy River School District. "The district's position is that safety was not compromised."
John Mastin, acting sheriff in Koochiching County, said Pilloud could be charged with felony possession of a firearm on school property and reckless discharge of a firearm, a misdemeanor.
County Attorney Jennifer Hasbargen said Friday that the case was under review.
Mastin said the shooting put no one in danger but said Pilloud used "poor discretion and poor timing," especially amid the growing fear of gun violence in schools.
The district put Pilloud on administrative leave after the incident. Flynn said Pilloud agreed to an undisclosed settlement and resigned.
Case Updates
| Pilloud is now working as the principal of Marsing High School, in Marsing, Idaho. |
Source: Fox 12 News - April 25, 2007
Update posted on Apr 27, 2007 - 4:13PM |
The northern Minnesota school principal who shot two kittens with a shotgun on school property has been sentenced to an anger management course.
Wade Pilloud, 38, resigned from his post at the K-12 public school in the small Canadian border community of Indus after parents complained about the shooting and his angry outburst that preceded it. He pleaded guilty last month to two misdemeanors: mistreatment of animals and criminal damage to property.
In exchange for those pleas, prosecutors dismissed a felony charge and reduced a gross misdemeanor to a misdemeanor, according to court records.
"He was adamant that he hadn't endangered anyone and hadn't acted recklessly," Pilloud's attorney, Robert Wallner of Bemidji, said of his client. "But he realized he'd used bad judgment, and we felt the misdemeanors were a fair resolution."
News of the shooting quickly spread on the Internet, angering animal rights activists around the country and ultimately leading to the animal cruelty charge, which prosecutors had not initially included.
Pilloud said he shot the kittens on Sept. 1 because their mother was killed in a trap set for skunks and woodchucks under a mobile home where he lived in school property.
"I did not want the kittens to starve or dehydrate to death," he said at the time.
Some students heard the shots, and complaints prompted an investigation. The investigator learned that Pilloud was angry on the day of the shooting because one of the traps had captured a skunk and the smell permeated his belongings.
Pilloud changed his clothes three times but then overheard someone joking about the smell. He then "got up, stated that he quit, slammed the door and left the building," the criminal complaint said.
Staff members then saw him fire two shots near the trailer with a shotgun. A custodian later found a fist-sized hole where Pilloud punched a cafeteria door.
District Judge Chad Leduc sentenced Pilloud on each misdemeanor count to 90 days in jail, but stayed the sentence in lieu of a year's probation where he will have to perform 24 hours of community service and complete an anger management course.
Pilloud resigned with a settlement of six month's pay, about $31,000. Wallner said Pilloud hopes to resume his career as an educator. State officials said his conviction wouldn't necessarily result in the revocation of his teaching license. |
Source: Winona Daily News - Dec 2, 2006
Update posted on Dec 2, 2006 - 12:06PM |
References
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