CANYON CITY – Their voices laden with emotion, several Grant County hunters recalled the shock and terror they felt as they realized that someone was firing a gun at them in the woods one day last November.

The incident came at the end of a day’s hunt, when the seven men drove into a forest clearing to cut some firewood and do a little target shooting. Little did they know that their activities would trigger an angry outburst from Max Lyndon Clugston, 22, of Brownsville, who had been scouting game just up the hill.

According to testimony at a July 25 hearing in Grant County Circuit Court, Clugston “snapped” at the intrusion into what he felt was his hunting area. He began shooting a .45-caliber revolver toward the men, firing five shots.

District Attorney Ryan Joslin said the seven hunting partners scattered for cover.

“They were petrified, and sick to their stomachs, thinking they were going to be killed,” he said.

The men – Bryan Williams, Zach Williams, King Williams, John Kitchen, Sean Teach, Tim Boyce and Brad Armstrong – eventually were able to crawl into their pickup truck and flee. Down the road, they encountered other hunters from Clugston’s party, and recounted what happened. Later they were angered to hear that although the young man had gone to police to admit the incident, he initially said he was only shooting at the hillside, not at any people.

After they reported their experience, Clugston was charged with seven counts each of unlawful use of a weapon, menacing, recklessly endangering another, and pointing a firearm at another.

Initially he pleaded not guilty to all counts, but on Friday, July 22, he changed his plea to guilty on seven felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon. As part of the deal, the other 21 charges were dismissed.

The change of plea came despite the advice of his attorney, Robert J. Moon Jr., who told the court he had been ready to proceed to trial. He noted that a psychological exam raised the possibility that hypothermia could explain his client’s uncharacteristic behavior.

However, Moon said Clugston was determined to plead guilty and take responsibility for his actions. He said Clugston also didn’t want to put his religious community, the Mennonites, through any more pain over the case.

He said his client has been remorseful since the incident occurred.

At the sentencing, Clugston choked back tears.

“There’s no way to repay what I’ve done,” he told the court and the men he shot at. “I’ve thought about it every day since … I can’t fathom what you must have felt.”

He told the judge, “I’m willing to accept whatever consequences that you see fit.”

The courtroom was packed with relatives and supporters of Clugston from the local and Brownsville Mennonite communities, as well as the victims and relatives.

Grant County Circuit Court Judge William D. Cramer Jr. sentenced Clugston to 90 days in jail – less than the time sought by the victims. They wanted him to serve 30 days on each of the seven counts, consecutively, for a total of seven months.

Armstrong, calling the incident “the most terrifying event of our lives,” said that Clugston’s angry outburst could have ruined a lot of lives.

“We’re very lucky we didn’t have to bury one of us,” he said.

Several of the victims testified about hearing the bullets go past them, and seeing plumes of snow as nearby branches were struck.

Kitchen recalled how he and Armstrong dove to the ground and crawled behind the truck, and then scrambled into the truck.

“Driving down (the hill), all I could think about was my wife and kids, thinking my life was that close to over,” he said.

Boyce noted that the bullets hit three to 10 feet from the hunters. He calculated that the shooter could have shifted just a half to 1 degree, and “maybe five people are dead.” Calculating such as loss at 78,000 days of their lives, he said “30 days isn’t enough.”

King Williams recalled how it hit him that “my family was there, both of my kids. We could have been killed.”

Moon said Clugston was angry and shot toward the men, but wasn’t aiming at them because from his vantage point, he couldn’t see them.

One victim disagreed about the line of sight, and said the pattern of bullets – skipping past the men’s pickup truck – suggested he could see the truck they used for cover.

Zach Williams noted that he was able to reach for his rifle when there was a pause in the shooting.

“At that point I thought he was reloading. I was going to shoot him,” he said, noting that act, whether deserved or not, would have changed his own life forever.

He and the other men noted it was just blind luck that no one was killed, but that was an explanation, not an excuse.

Cramer agreed.  

“It’s highly alarming to me that shots were fired in direction of people, without knowing where the bullets would go,” he said. “This is the kind of incident that’s going to stay with people for a long time, probably the rest of their lives.”

However, he also said it seemed “out of character,” given Clugston’s lack of criminal history and a psychological evulgation showing no tendency toward violence.

Testifying about Clugston’s character were his father, a former youth sponsor in his church and the pastor of the Brownsville Mennonite Church. They all said the outburst was unexpected from a young man known as hard-working and respectful.

The pastor, Arlen Krabill, said it was “the last thing that I would have expected from him.”

Cramer cited Clugston’s decision to take full responsibility as a factor in the sentencing decision.

But he added, if there had been injuries, “we certainly would have been talking about years in prison.”

The judge also lauded the way the victims handled a “highly charged situation.”

“God’s grace was evident, in that nobody got hurt,” he said.

Cramer set the jail time at 30 days for one count and 10 days each for the other six counts, for a total of 90 days, with credit for time served. In addition, Clugston must undergo individual anger counseling, do 320 hours of community service, give up his hunting license for three years, and pay $4,958 in fines and court fees. He also faces three years of supervised probation after his jail term, and Cramer ordered him to write letters of apology to each of the victims.