KY - Tommy Ballard, 54, shot to death, Nelson County, 19 Nov 2016

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Coroner: Tommy Ballard shot in chest, bullet exited through back

The Nelson County Coroner has confirmed to WAVE 3 News that Tommy Ballard was shot in the chest, and not in the back as once believed.

Field Houghlin, Nelson County Coroner, told WAVE 3 News that the autopsy on Tommy Ballard was to start at 2:30 Sunday afternoon, but preliminary results indicated Ballard was shot in the chest, with the bullet exiting through Ballard's back.
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http://www.wave3.com/story/33755696/coroner-tommy-ballard-shot-in-chest-bullet-exited-through-back


I still think this was some trigger-happy idiot that pretty much shoots at anything that moves when out "hunting". Some of these guys shouldn't be allowed within 50 feet of a gun.......ever.
A bullet coming out of the muzzle of a high powered rifle can easily travel up to one mile. That's outside your range of vision, especially if there are a bunch of trees and hills.

If the person who did this was aware of what he did, but refused to come forward......it's going to be involuntary manslaughter.

If the person who did this was unaware of the chaos he created, it could be ruled a legitimate accident, but he's still going to have a lot of answering to do. Obviously, the bullet he fired didn't strike s deer. Was it a bad shot or a careless shot ?

I doubt this was an accident due to target shooting because it was the opening day of the deer hunt, and target shooting would scare off all the deer.
 
steelman said:
Coroner: Tommy Ballard shot in chest, bullet exited through back



http://www.wave3.com/story/33755696/coroner-tommy-ballard-shot-in-chest-bullet-exited-through-back


I still think this was some trigger-happy idiot that pretty much shoots at anything that moves when out "hunting". Some of these guys shouldn't be allowed within 50 feet of a gun.......ever.
A bullet coming out of the muzzle of a high powered rifle can easily travel up to one mile. That's outside your range of vision, especially if there are a bunch of trees and hills.

If the person who did this was aware of what he did, but refused to come forward......it's going to be involuntary manslaughter.

If the person who did this was unaware of the chaos he created, it could be ruled a legitimate accident, but he's still going to have a lot of answering to do. Obviously, the bullet he fired didn't strike s deer. Was it a bad shot or a careless shot ?

I doubt this was an accident due to target shooting because it was the opening day of the deer hunt, and target shooting would scare off all the deer.
Click to expand...

I know someone who was killed in a hunting accident so I know it can happen. While it's tragic, people do understand accidents. It's odd to me that someone isn't coming forward to say, "I think I might have done this, by accident" and share information about where they were hunting.

For someone to be shot accidentally and no one comes forward to claim responsibility for the accident is odd, in my opinion.

I do hope it's an accident (though I have my doubts). This family has been through more than enough!!

jmo
 
Inthedetails said:
I know someone who was killed in a hunting accident so I know it can happen. While it's tragic, people do understand accidents. It's odd to me that someone isn't coming forward to say, "I think I might have done this, by accident" and share information about where they were hunting.

For someone to be shot accidentally and no one comes forward to claim responsibility for the accident is odd, in my opinion.

I do hope it's an accident (though I have my doubts). This family has been through more than enough!!

jmo
Click to expand...

Accidents happen all the time out here during hunting season. That's why I immediately assumed that was the case. I agree that it's strange that nobody has come forward.


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Why isn't LE asking people who were hunting in the area that morning to come forward? I saw that they were asking drivers on BG Pkwy to report cars on the side of the road, but I personally haven't seen a request for hunters.
 
Sleuthy McSleuther said:
Why isn't LE asking people who were hunting in the area that morning to come forward? I saw that they were asking drivers on BG Pkwy to report cars on the side of the road, but I personally haven't seen a request for hunters.
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I think it was just kind of assumed that anyone who had seen anything out of the ordinary in the area that morning would come forward. I'm still unsure how big the property was they were on and whether it was adjacent to other property.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Isn't it sad to have two separate threads on WS for two people in the same family? I wonder if this is a WS first? Let's hope it's the last.
 
Inthedetails said:
Isn't it sad to have two separate threads on WS for two people in the same family? I wonder if this is a WS first? Let's hope it's the last.
Click to expand...

Agree - and two separate threads for two separate crimes, at two different times, but around a year apart?

I know of another family with a very similar situation, oddly enough (and also in Kentucky partially) - the daughter is missing (has a forum here) and the father was shot (murdered). In that situation the timing of the events were reversed, the father was murdered first, daughter missing a few years later. She is still missing. :tears:
 
So based on the article above, Tommy Ballard was a very competent hunter, who know and understood the laws and followed them. It also sounds like he had a routine that he followed.That REALLY makes the argument of a hunting accident harder to believe.

The truth will come out. The Ballard family deserves that and so much more at this point!
 
Truck drivers could provide clues in weekend shooting death of Tommy Ballard.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The entire fleet of 86 trucks at Hill Transportation is equipped with high-quality dash cams that capture video of everything the driver can see.

“If there is a sudden movement, it’ll alert the driver with a flashing light that there’s been an event,” said William Hill, president of the Louisville company.

Hill is also the chairman of the Kentucky Trucking Association.

The organization issued an alert Monday to its more than 10,000 drivers after Kentucky State Police asked for information from the public about the mysterious shooting death of Tommy Ballard, the father of missing Bardstown woman Crystal Rogers.

“A lot of trucking companies nowadays have active dash cams, much like police cars do,” said Trooper Jeff Gregory with Kentucky State Police. “We’re asking them if they can review their footage and see if there’s anything out of the ordinary in that location. We’d love to see it and love to know about it.”

Ballard was shot in the chest Saturday morning while out hunting with his grandson on his family’s property in Nelson County. Investigators say Ballard’s grandson did not pull the trigger, but they will not comment on whether this is believed to be an accidental shooting or a murder.

http://www.wdrb.com/story/33766736/...es-in-weekend-shooting-death-of-tommy-ballard
 
So much tragedy for this family and in this one little town. Just unbelievable! What the heck is going on? (Rhetorical question)
 
As a Kentucky girl, I grew up a tomboy, and I've done my share of hunting. Let me share a bit about the sport. Some of this is law, some is just plain common sense, some is ghe spot
tt itself.

When we hunt deer, we have a season, opening day is like our "Christmas" - every real deer hunter is out there before dawn on opening day with our license purchased on land we or a family member or good close personal family member owns and we have permission to use that land. And we know who else is out there with us, it's a matter of safety. we also wear a neon orange vest by law and also for safety.

we tend to scope out our "spot" that we'll hunt our deer in advance. We look for signs that deer travel that area. This process often can take several trips into the woods. Once we find physical evidence that deer are in the area we usually setup a tree stand in the area prior to hunting day. Google deer tree stand to see what one looks like, but it's basically a crude ladder that extends to a level spot about ten-fifteen feet up into a tree. We usually setup our tree stands on the edge of a clearing ( a spot that's clear of woods but has wooded areas surrounding it). We do this so that we're hidden, deer are hidden, but they must enter into the open to cross to the other side to reach food, water, or to mate.

NOW, with that being said, IMO a couple comments on the case. The child (or son/grandson) with him while he hunted. He had an unloaded weapon. That leads me to believe this person did intend on hunting or he would have NO weapon (as opposed to sitting WITH grandpa only observing the hunt). If this is so then this child/son/grandchild may have had his own tree stand.

IMO IF someone wanted to eliminate his presence from the investigation or life in general, they would have known he'd very likely be at his favorite hunting spot on opening morning if they knew the man and his hunting habits.

IMO IF someone was there for the purpose of hunting the hunter, they would not shoot him in front of his grand child. First, it's a child, second, it's a witness. But you know that the kid is planning on hunting because of his weapon. Or maybe the grandson was a surprise that wasn't expected. But either way at some point even if the child had sat in the tree stand with the grand father throughout the hunt, eventually one of the two would likely need to get down to go to the restroom, and a hunter never pees near his stand (deer can small this and will leave the area). So you'd wait until someone gets down to pee. If it's grandpa there's yours chance to shoot him. If it's the child then you've got a shot at grandpa in his tree stand.

People DO poach on private land (hunt illegally - without owner permission), but only a FOOL would try it on opening day of gun season. Fish and Wildlife is out, all the proper hunters are out, hunters are everywhere in KY. Why would you take that chance? Anyone wanting an illegal deer doesn't care about opening day, they'd increase their odds by hunting any day other than opening day. IMO this was a hunter being hunted.
 
I agree with everything you've said above KYAngel - and want to note a few things that I've read that support your premise that this was a hunter being hunted...#1 - he wasn't shot in a deer stand, but in a clearing; #2 - Mr. Rogers was shot, I read or heard somewhere "through the heart" - which if an accidental shot, would have to be the most horrifically unlucky accidental shot, anywhere at any time; #3 - Most true hunters, ascribing to everything you've outlined above, have scoped out their spot and know where they are going to hunt ahead of time. Most hunters realize it is hugely dangerous to themselves and everyone else to trespass and hunt in someone else's hunting spots. If it was a true accident, many people, even trespassing people, upon learning of Mr. Roger's being shot would have noted that they were in the area. Lastly - good hunters don't shoot at what they can't see. If you can't identify it as your target, e.g. deer, squirrel, etc. you don't shoot. Period.
 
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