Details Emerge In Sonoma County Hunter's Fatal Shooting

NAPA (BCN) - A Napa man who was killed in a hunting accident in unincorporated Sonoma County on Sunday was shot in the back of the head by another hunter as he stepped out of his truck, a Sonoma County sheriff's spokesman said Wednesday.

William Downs, 50, was hunting pheasant with two other adults and his 11-year-old son in the 3000 block of state Highway 37 near the San Pablo Bay Wildlife Refuge when the accident happened at about 3:45 p.m., Capt. Matt McCaffrey said.

One of the hunters was tracking a bird from left to right while standing behind a truck that Downs was sitting in, McCaffrey said.

As the hunter fired at a bird, Downs stepped out of the driver's side of the truck and was shot in the back of the head, McCaffrey said.

All the hunters had licenses, and the shooting is considered accidental, McCaffrey said.

The sheriff's office did not identify which person in the hunting party fired the shot.

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