Walworth Co. deputies seek answers after hunters shot at

WALWORTH COUNTY -- Walworth County officials are looking for any information about an incident in which a couple of deer hunters were shot at Saturday morning. In particular, they're trying to locate a man and woman who may be witnesses to the incident.

Officials say the man and woman were described as white, walking or hiking together, approximately 50-60 years old. The man was wearing a dark green shirt and white hat. The woman was wearing a white vest.

The two hunters that were fired upon were a father and son in a wooded area near Tamarack Rd. in southern Kettle Moraine Saturday morning. Officials say a man wearing camouflage and a hunter's facemask fired at the hunters with a handgun around 8:30 a.m. The father fired back with his 30-06 hunting rifle.

After an extensive search effort that involved the full SWAT and K9 teams, no suspect was ever found. No additional searches are planned.

Neither the father nor son was hurt. Deputies say it's unknown whether the other male was hurt.

Joe Rocha lives near the area, and says it was alarming. "I have kids and we were actually working out in this area, so when we heard about it, with helicopters flying around, you don't really get that around here. It's a little eerie to know they are still out there," Rocha said.

Officials say it is a recreational area, and they're wondering why something like this would suddenly occur. "It's pretty strange. You have two hunters legally hunting, this other person who jumped out with a handgun and shot at them was in total camouflage," Walworth County Sheriff David Graves said.

If you were in the area of the Kettle Moraine Forest or the adjacent roads on Saturday, January 7th from dawn until about 8:30am, the Walworth County Sheriff's Department would like to speak with you. Please call Lead Investigator Detective Robert Craig at 262-741-4425.