Teacher accused of shooting man while hunting appears in court
By Valerie Hurst KATU News and KATU Web StaffSTEVENSON, Wash. - A middle school teacher accused of shooting and killing a man while hunting in Skamania County made his first appearance in court on Thursday. Shahala Middle School teacher Craig Sjoberg is charged with first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Juan Rojas Cortez.
According to prosecutors, on Saturday, Nov. 1, Sjoberg was out hunting in the Skookum Meadows area of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest where Cortez was shot. The man was in the area picking bear grass for his employer and was shot once in the torso. "I think he was hunting and he shot at what he perceived to be an animal and hit a human being," Prosecutor Peter Banks said on Thursday. Prosecutors believe Sjoberg knew he had hit a human before he left the forest. On Tuesday, three days after the shooting, Sjoberg left a voice mail for Sgt. Monty Buettner with the Skamania County Sheriff's Office, saying he had read about the incident in the newspaper and may be the person they would want to talk to. Police initially had trouble contacting Sjoberg with the information he provided in the message but they were eventually able to track him down. Authorities say Sjoberg should have spoken up sooner because there is a chance it might have saved Cortez' life. "If a terrible tragedy like this happened and the person was injured and you run away, maybe there's a chance this person is still alive and there's a chance that you could save him," said Sgt. Buettner. The sheriff's office would only say that Cortez was wearing rain gear - we do not know how visible he might have been to a hunter. Sjoberg's bail was set at $750,000 and he is due back in court next week. |
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