Manchester man died in hunting accident in Delaware County

MANCHESTER - Ronald Dean Lawson, 18, of Manchester, was identified today as the shooting victim in a Monday hunting accident.

Delaware County Sheriff John LeClere said today that a member of the hunting party was doing random target practice and fired a shot from a .22-caliber rifle that hit Lawson.

At the time, he said, Lawson was out of sight behind dense foliage.

The sheriff declined to release, at this time, the name of the other hunter, but said it was a close friend of the victim. The two were part of a hunting party of four, he said.

LeClere termed the death an accidental shooting. It happened about a mile north of Dundee around 12:30 p.m.

The Sheriff's Office and the Department of Natural Resources are investigating the accident.