July 26. 2006 11:22AM
Prosecutor: Teen charged in highway shootings fought with family
By CHARLES WILSON
Associated Press Writer
SEYMOUR, Ind. — A teenager who confessed to highway shootings that killed one man and wounded another argued with family members during a hunting trip and angrily drove off, then shot at the vehicles with a rifle, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
Zachariah Blanton, 17, of Gaston faced preliminary charges of murder, attempted murder and criminal recklessness and was held Wednesday in the Jackson County Jail — just miles from where the shootings happened near Seymour on Interstate 65 early Sunday.
Jackson County Prosecutor Stephen Pierson said Blanton apparently argued over gutting a deer Saturday on a hunting trip near Kossuth, 20 miles south of Seymour.
"He left and was very upset," Pierson said.
John Kelly, a crime scene technician with the Indiana State Police, testified during Tuesday's probable cause hearing in Jackson Superior Court that Blanton told him about the argument.
"He said he in fact did do the shootings, however, only with the intention of relieving pressure," Kelly said.
He took his rifle to a southern Indiana highway overpass and shot at two pickup trucks, killing one man and wounding another, police said.
Then Blanton drove north toward his home, stopping on a stretch of I-69 to shoot at a moving semitrailer and an unoccupied sport-utility vehicle about two hours later, police said. No one was injured in those shootings.
Authorities said Blanton was an avid hunter who lived at his grandparents' house near Muncie, but frequented Jackson County, where the fatal shooting happened.
"He was familiar with the Seymour area, which would explain how he was able to perpetrate from that overpass, because it requires a certain knowledge of the lay of the land to get there," said state police Superintendent Paul Whitesell.
Whitesell said Blanton apparently drove onto the overpass and leaned across the trunk of his vehicle to shoot at the pickup trucks, then drove about 100 miles north to the Muncie area where he shot at vehicles from two sites about a mile apart.
Investigators did not believe anyone else was involved.
Blanton's page on the Web site MySpace.com has as its background has a painting of a 12-point buck and lists his interests as "Huntin, Fishin, Muddin and goin out with friends."
A message seeking comment was left at the Gaston home of Blanton's grandparents, his legal guardians.
Blanton's great-aunt told The Star Press of Muncie that she was shocked by the allegations against him. "I can't imagine that he would be involved," Denise Blanton said.
Gaston resident Kenneth Shipley, 59, said he knows Blanton's grandfather and had talked to the teen.
"This isn't the Zach I knew," Shipley said. "I took this real hard. Zach just needed some attention, someone to talk to."
Pierson said police had recovered a rifle they believed was used in the shootings that killed Jerry L. Ross, 40, of New Albany, and slightly wounded an Iowa man.
Gov. Mitch Daniels praised law enforcement officers for their quick work.
"Indiana has been spared the sort of fear, uncertainty and disruption that has befallen other jurisdictions elsewhere," he said.
Blanton came to investigators' attention Monday after an acquaintance told a Delaware County reserve deputy that the teen might be involved in the shootings, Whitesell said. Detectives then searched Blanton's home and found a rifle of the same caliber used in the shootings.
"This is a simple case where a reserve deputy was on the ball. He kept aware of the facts as he knew them, he found something he felt would be germane or relevant to the investigation," Whitesell said. "Good police took it from there."
Delaware County Sheriff George Sheridan Jr. described Blanton's demeanor while being questioned as "cooperative, it was remorseful."
He said that Blanton had previous brushes with the law for "crimes of sex and of theft as well," but he would not elaborate.
Pierson said he did not know yet whether he would seek the death penalty against Blanton.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/News01/60726004
Prosecutor: Teen charged in highway shootings fought with family
By CHARLES WILSON
Associated Press Writer
SEYMOUR, Ind. — A teenager who confessed to highway shootings that killed one man and wounded another argued with family members during a hunting trip and angrily drove off, then shot at the vehicles with a rifle, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
Zachariah Blanton, 17, of Gaston faced preliminary charges of murder, attempted murder and criminal recklessness and was held Wednesday in the Jackson County Jail — just miles from where the shootings happened near Seymour on Interstate 65 early Sunday.
Jackson County Prosecutor Stephen Pierson said Blanton apparently argued over gutting a deer Saturday on a hunting trip near Kossuth, 20 miles south of Seymour.
"He left and was very upset," Pierson said.
John Kelly, a crime scene technician with the Indiana State Police, testified during Tuesday's probable cause hearing in Jackson Superior Court that Blanton told him about the argument.
"He said he in fact did do the shootings, however, only with the intention of relieving pressure," Kelly said.
He took his rifle to a southern Indiana highway overpass and shot at two pickup trucks, killing one man and wounding another, police said.
Then Blanton drove north toward his home, stopping on a stretch of I-69 to shoot at a moving semitrailer and an unoccupied sport-utility vehicle about two hours later, police said. No one was injured in those shootings.
Authorities said Blanton was an avid hunter who lived at his grandparents' house near Muncie, but frequented Jackson County, where the fatal shooting happened.
"He was familiar with the Seymour area, which would explain how he was able to perpetrate from that overpass, because it requires a certain knowledge of the lay of the land to get there," said state police Superintendent Paul Whitesell.
Whitesell said Blanton apparently drove onto the overpass and leaned across the trunk of his vehicle to shoot at the pickup trucks, then drove about 100 miles north to the Muncie area where he shot at vehicles from two sites about a mile apart.
Investigators did not believe anyone else was involved.
Blanton's page on the Web site MySpace.com has as its background has a painting of a 12-point buck and lists his interests as "Huntin, Fishin, Muddin and goin out with friends."
A message seeking comment was left at the Gaston home of Blanton's grandparents, his legal guardians.
Blanton's great-aunt told The Star Press of Muncie that she was shocked by the allegations against him. "I can't imagine that he would be involved," Denise Blanton said.
Gaston resident Kenneth Shipley, 59, said he knows Blanton's grandfather and had talked to the teen.
"This isn't the Zach I knew," Shipley said. "I took this real hard. Zach just needed some attention, someone to talk to."
Pierson said police had recovered a rifle they believed was used in the shootings that killed Jerry L. Ross, 40, of New Albany, and slightly wounded an Iowa man.
Gov. Mitch Daniels praised law enforcement officers for their quick work.
"Indiana has been spared the sort of fear, uncertainty and disruption that has befallen other jurisdictions elsewhere," he said.
Blanton came to investigators' attention Monday after an acquaintance told a Delaware County reserve deputy that the teen might be involved in the shootings, Whitesell said. Detectives then searched Blanton's home and found a rifle of the same caliber used in the shootings.
"This is a simple case where a reserve deputy was on the ball. He kept aware of the facts as he knew them, he found something he felt would be germane or relevant to the investigation," Whitesell said. "Good police took it from there."
Delaware County Sheriff George Sheridan Jr. described Blanton's demeanor while being questioned as "cooperative, it was remorseful."
He said that Blanton had previous brushes with the law for "crimes of sex and of theft as well," but he would not elaborate.
Pierson said he did not know yet whether he would seek the death penalty against Blanton.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/News01/60726004
