Man Shot At Aircraft Sent To Stop Minnesota's Wildfires: Feds

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MN — A 48-year-old Portage Township man has been indicted on federal charges after prosecutors say a firefighting aircraft was damaged by gunfire while it was helping battle a forest fire in northern Minnesota.

Daniel Christian Pettit was indicted by a grand jury on one count of damaging an aircraft and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced Monday. Pettit made his initial appearance Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leo I. Brisbois.

According to the indictment, Pettit knowingly and willfully damaged and disabled a firefighting aircraft with a firearm on or about May 15 while the aircraft was in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.

State court documents say that evening, a pilot flew a mission actively fighting a forest fire in northern Minnesota. After landing, the pilot discovered damage to the aircraft that appeared consistent with bullets.

In an interview after his arrest on related state charges, Pettit said he fired rounds from a 12-gauge shotgun and a .308-caliber rifle as the aircraft flew nearby, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Pettit claimed he was only crow hunting.

The case is the result of an investigation by the FBI, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Green is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is a formal accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.