Man On Bear Hunt Shot Dead By Partner

A Salem man died Saturday when a hunting partner mistook him for a bear and shot him, the Marion County sheriff’s department said. Ronnie Thompson, 28, and three companions were hunting for bear Saturday evening when the accident occurred just north of Detroit, sheriff’s spokesman Tim Steele said.

Thompson was apparently moving through some brush or bushes when another hunter in his party, who was not identified, accidentally shot him with his rifle, Steele said.

The incident is under investigation.