It appears someone took a pot shot at a medevac helicopter flying over northern Ohio on Monday, an incident that federal law enforcement officials are taking very seriously but which was shrugged off by local police as probably nothing more than a lucky hit by a kid with a rifle.
During a routine pre-flight inspection, a MedFlight of Ohio pilot found a bullet hole in the fuselage near the clamshell doors of a company Eurocopter EC 135. A .22 caliber round was located inside, wedged in the floorboard.
Nobody was hurt in the incident, which appears to have occurred on Monday as the helicopter was delivering a patient to a hospital in Akron.
Columbus police SWAT sniper Kevin Wheeler told WBNS-10 news that a skilled marksman did not necessarily fire the bullet.
“A lot of times kids will have a .22 rifle or something like that and see the helicopter and take a shot and get lucky and get a hit,” Wheeler said.
The helicopter remains grounded while officials from the FAA and Department of Homeland Security investigate.
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