Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Crime, Law and Justice
Matt Sepic
Minneapolis

Feds add charges against alleged shooter of firefighting plane

Damage from a bullet to a plane
Damage from a bullet is seen on a firefighting aircraft in northern Minnesota. The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office said the plane apparently was struck while helping battle a wildfire in the northern part of the county on May 15.
St. Louis County Sheriff's Office

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

A northern Minnesota man is facing additional charges for allegedly shooting a firefighting plane this spring.

St. Louis County prosecutors initially charged Daniel Christian Pettit with two felony weapons counts, including assault for allegedly shooting at the airplane.

A federal grand jury later returned an indictment on Aug. 29 that charges Pettit, 49, with damaging an aircraft and discharging a firearm in relation to a violent crime. U.S. Magistrate Judge Leo Brisbois unsealed the indictment Monday after Pettit made his initial appearance in Duluth.

Brisbois ordered Pettit jailed ahead of a Wednesday detention hearing.

According to the state complaint that prosecutors filed in the days after the incident, pilot Jorden Grieff told investigators that on May 15, he heard popping sounds on his 35th pass to scoop water from Kjostad Lake while fighting a wildfire.

Grieff said that he had initially thought the noise was a bird strike, so continued his water drops. It was only after landing in Hibbing that he found damage to his rudder and its trim tab and saw that a bullet had entered the bottom of the rudder and exited on the left side.

The pilot said that he was between 500 and 700 feet above the ground near Kjostad Lake when he heard the noise. Pettit lives immediately south of the lake.

According to the state complaint, Pettit told investigators that he probably fired at the firefighting aircraft “more than five times” while crow hunting.

"If I accidentally hit him crow hunting, too bad,” Pettit allegedly told law enforcement during an interview at the jail in Hibbing. “He endangered my life. I decided to go outside and crow hunt. Did I aim and try and shoot the plane? Nope, no, I didn't."

If convicted in state court, Pettit faces up to seven years in prison. The federal charges carry up to 20 years, with a 10-year mandatory minimum.