GREENWOOD, S.C. —
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources responded to calls Saturday about stray pellets coming from a nearby dove hunting field in Greenwood County.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said it happened around 4 p.m.


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Neighbors in the Wheatfield subdivision in Greenwood say they were hit by the pellets.

“I just heard gunshots,” said Okeava Ka’Deidre Bland, who lives in the neighborhood.

Bland says it was startling when she first heard the noise from inside her house.

“I was sitting down in my living room, watching TV I just hear a lot of noise and I’m thinking it was fireworks,” Bland said.

Bland said she walked outside to see what was going on.

“Next thing you know, I feel something hitting my head,” she said.

Bland says she was getting hit with stray pellets. She says they were coming from a field across the street.

Neighbors said they saw 10-20 in the field hunting doves.

“It was so terrifying I couldn’t believe it,” Bland said.

Neighbors say several young children were also hit while playing outside, just feet away from the field. One woman said her son was hit while playing on the trampoline.

“He was hollering, so I came to see what was wrong with him and he was holding his face and his face as just red," a neighbor said. "Then I saw the spots and was like, what’s going on. That’s when I looked back and there were all shooting in the back behind our house.”

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources officials say they talked to several people who say they were hit, including a 6-year-old boy who had two marks on his cheek.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said the land is private property and the landowner was not doing anything illegal. Officials said there is no state law or regulation in South Carolina mandating the minimum distance from other homes or properties that a dove field on private land must be located.

Officials said they talked to the landowner and the landowner voluntarily stopped the hunt due to safety and noise concerns.

Neighbors said they are still concerned about this happening so close to their homes though.

“This, right here, just has to stop," Bland said. "We have kids in this neighborhood and it’s just unacceptable.”

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said no charges will be filed.

Neighbors said the children hit are OK.

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