Arkansas deer hunter charged in fatal shooting of woman

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CLARKSVILLE, Ark. (AP) – An Arkansas man has been charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a woman he told authorities he mistook for a deer while hunting.

Dale Williams was charged Tuesday in Johnson County Circuit Court. An affidavit says 72-year-old Jane Rust was fatally shot Nov. 11th after getting out of a car to take photographs of a church in northwest Arkansas.

Two people who remained in the car said Rust walked a short distance down a trail. The affidavit says they then heard a gunshot and saw Rust fall.

The affidavit says 61-year-old Williams told an investigator he saw a deer run across a road and fired his rifle when he saw a white flash through the trees.

Williams did not immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press.

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