Young Florida Anglers Reel In Loaded Handgun
OutdoorHub Reporters 09.14.15
Instead of hooking a nice bass or some bluegill, three young boys fishing near Florida’s Waterford Lakes reeled in a bag filled with ammunition, a handgun, and spare magazines. According to the Waterford Lakes Community Association, the boys hooked the bag while fishing on Labor Day and the contents were later turned over to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Joe Corica, a security guard for Waterford Lakes, said he was on patrol when he saw one of the boys reel the bag in.
“As he’s reeling it into the shore, there’s a large green plastic bag with a Walmart bag inside had broken and some bullets fell out,” Corica told Fox 35. “It could have gone off. The hammer was cocked. My first instinct was to get the gun away from the kids right away.”
You can watch an interview with Corica below:
Corica discovered that the bag contained a single handgun chambered in .380, two loaded magazines, and about 37 rounds in total.
Authorities advise that it is highly irresponsible—not to mention illegal—to dispose of a weapon in a lake. The Orange County Sheriff’s office is currently investigating the case and looking into whether the gun was used in a crime.
Anglers fishing up firearms, even loaded ones, are infrequent but do happen. Perhaps a more benign and interesting case was when a Wisconsin fisherman found a 200-year-old flintlock in Lake Winnebago in 2013.
