Nearly a week after a hunter killed a woman in upstate New York, claiming he mistook her for a deer, police have yet to charge the man they say is cooperating with authorities.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Rosemary Billquist, 43, was killed last Wednesday evening as she was out walking her two dogs. Thomas Jadlowski, 34, admitted to firing his pistol in her direction, believing she was a deer. When he realized his mistake, Jadlowski reportedly rushed to the woman’s aid and called 911, applying pressure to her wound.
But Jadlowski’s 911 call came in about 45 minutes after sunset, when state law prohibits hunting. Still, Jadlowski still has not been charged with any crime.
The advocacy group One Pulse for America, founded in response to the deadly nightclub shooting in Orlando last June, has circulated a petition calling for prosecutors to charge Jadlowski.
@WGRZ_SteveBrown, @1Pulse4America just started driving calls to DA Swanson and Sheriff Grace demanding that charges be brought against Thomas Jadlowski. https://t.co/8OqLTXXBvY
— Ladd Everitt (@LaddEveritt) November 27, 2017
According to The Buffalo News, Chautauqua County District Attorney Partrick Swanson is “considering” filing criminal charges against Jadlowski. Swanson told the newspaper that he would be meeting with the sheriff’s office and the Department of Environmental Conservation to discuss the case, and that he did not know yet if it would be brought before a grand jury.
He also said that authorities have the weapon used in the deadly shooting, but have not confiscated any other firearms.
“That wouldn’t happen until there’s a proceeding,” Swanson told the newspaper.
Rosemary’s husband Jamie Billquist was at home when his wife was shot, and told the New York Times he knew something was wrong when the couple’s labradors came running home without her. He soon learned that his wife had been injuried, and rode in the ambulance with her to the hospital.
Billquist, who is not a hunter, told the New York Times he is considering starting a foundation dedicated to hunting safety education.
“I’m not looking for vengeance, and I know Rosemary’s not either,” Billquist told the New York Times.
“There’s got to be some kind of lesson.”
[Feature image: Facebook/Jamie and Rosemary Billquist]
