Deputies Warn 80-Year-Old for Shooting Icicles Off Roof With .22 Handgun

A report last week of gunfire in rural St. Charles drew the attention of Kane County sheriff’s deputies, who warned an elderly gunman he had to stop shooting at icicles on his home, the Kane County Chronicle reports.

As of Tuesday morning, according to the Sun-Times, the 80-year-old man had not been cited or charged with a crime. Contacted by phone, the man’s wife did not tell the newspaper why her husband, who had no comment, had been shooting at the icicles.

The incident occurred Friday morning, Jan. 10, 2014, when one of the man’s neighbors called the sheriff’s office to report the man was firing a gun out of his window and that the gunfire was scaring her dog, the Chronicle reports.

Authorities said the gunman, whose home is on the 6N300 block of Essex Avenue in St. Charles Township, apparently was shooting at icicles hanging off his home and was not shooting at anybody, according to the Chronicle.

The newspaper says the the man told deputies he was firing his .22-caliber revolver out the window at icicles and that he was doing so safely — firing it up, not at anyone.

That did little to assuage deputies, who according to the Chronicle, who were concerned about nearby neighbors and any pedestrians who might walk by the area. They reportedly told the man he no longer could shoot out his window.

They suggested he use a broomstick or long pole to knock down the icicles.

The man reportedly told the deputies he didn’t know he wasn’t allowed to shoot out his window and that he would refrain from doing so in the future.

The Daily Herald reported the Sheriff's Office was still reviewing the case.