Campers Dodge Bouncing Bullets

A 25-year-old man pleaded not guilty to reckless endangerment after shooting into a lake in the direction of a campground, not realizing his bullets were bouncing off the water and forcing campers to seek cover, authorities said.

Clark County sheriff's deputies responding to frantic 911 calls last weekend drove around Yale Reservoir, south of Mount St. Helens, and arrested Jacob Michael Johnson, 25, of Vancouver. He acknowledged firing three guns, including an AK-47 assault-style rifle, according to the deputies' report.

"Some people stated that they climbed behind vehicles and under things to stay out of the line of fire," Deputy James Payne said.

No one was injured.

Johnson said he had been shooting at the water and an island between his campsite and the campground, the report said. Told his bullets were ricocheting into the campground, Johnson said he didn't know bullets could do that, according to the report.

"The whole shooting into the campground is just speculation," Johnson said Thursday. "It didn't happen. I wasn't shooting into the campground."

Johnson pleaded not guilty Monday to five counts of misdemeanor reckless endangerment in Clark County District Court and is free on bail. If convicted, he could get five years' incarceration and fines.