BOONTON -- A firefighter on a training exercise escaped injury on Saturday morning when his heavy coat blocked a .22-caliber bullet fired by a man shooting at animals in his backyard, law enforcement officials said.
Edward Robillard, 22, a member of the Boonton Fire Department, was struck in the right shoulder as he and other firefighters conducted training at the Boonton Senior Center shortly before 10 a.m. A second shot struck the rear of a firetruck, narrowly missing several firefighters who were standing nearby.
The bullet that struck Robillard lodged in his firefighter's turnout coat, preventing injury.
After canvassing nearby residences, police arrested Mark Sikora, 51, of Boonton and charged him with simple assault in the shooting. Joseph A. Devine, chief of investigations for the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, said through a spokesman that Sikora was shooting at geese and groundhogs at the time.
"There is no indication that the defendant was aware that the firefighters were training on the property," Devine said.
Police seized a .22-caliber long rifle with a scope, a 9mm handgun and 12 boxes of ammunition from a workshop at the rear of Sikora's residence. They also seized a dead goose and alerted New Jersey Fish and Game officials to the incident.
The Boonton Senior Center, where the training exercise was being conducted, is in a populated area on North Main Street, adjacent to the Rockaway River and near Grace Lord Park.
Robillard was standing with fellow Firefighters Lauren VanRiper, 28, and Mike Gulla, 18, when they heard a single gunshot ring out, police said. At the same time, Robillard felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder and neck area. He looked and found the .22-caliber bullet lodged in his turnout coat -- a heavy, 20-pound jacket made of synthetic materials and designed to protect firefighters from flame, heat and chemical contaminants.
"The firefighter's turnout coat is responsible for minimizing any potential injury to his person," Morris County Prosecutor Michael Rubbinaccio said through a spokesman.
The firetruck was not damaged significantly, officials said.
Sikora, who was released pending a court appearance, also was charged with discharging a weapon in the city limits -- a municipal ordinance violation -- and hindering apprehension.
"He made efforts to hinder his own apprehension," Lt. Jeff Paul, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said. He declined to detail those efforts.
