WEST COCALICO TOWNSHIP, Lancaster County — A 21-year-old Lancaster County man was charged with recklessly endangering another person after allegedly nearly hitting two joggers with a bullet while attempting to shoot groundhogs on his family’s land.
According to Ephrata Police, Ronald M. Ringler, of Denver, will receive a court summons in the incident, which occurred on July 11 in the area Windy Mansion Road and Swamp Bridge Road.
The joggers told police they heard several shots in a nearby field as they jogged in the 500 block of Swamp Bridge Road. They said they heard and felt a bullet fly past their heads and saw it hit a nearby tree branch.
As they continued running, they encountered a man sitting in a pickup truck along Windy Mansion Road and spoke to him. He told them he had been shooting groundhogs in a field. The joggers saw a rifle on the front seat of his vehicle.
Police later identified the man as Ringler, who confirmed he had been using a .22 Magnum rifle to eradicate groundhogs on land that had been leased by his family for farming.