A Maurice man was arrested Sunday (Feb. 13) for allegedly killing another hunter near White Lake, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reported. The suspect was booked with negligent homicide, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence, the agency said.
Quint Mire, 47, of Maurice, allegedly shot and killed Julian Gajan, 56, of Abbeville, last Wednesday (Feb. 9) while the two were hunting near White Lake located in Vermilion Parish, the LDWF news release reads.
On Thursday (Feb. 10), the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office contacted LDWF about an overdue hunter. It was reported that Gajan was last seen Wednesday afternoon at 11:30 a.m. when he left by boat to go hunting.
Gajan’s boat was located in a canal tied to a tree off of Schooner Bayou on the east side of White Lake where he hunts. A search of the marsh and surrounding areas was organized. Participating in the search were LDWF enforcement agents, Vermilion Parish sheriff’s deputies, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Angola State Penitentiary K-9 Chase Team and the Patterson Police Department’s K-9 Unit.
Rescuers searched until 1 a.m. on Friday (Feb. 11) morning, and resumed the search at daylight Friday morning. The search was suspended at dark Friday night and again resumed at daylight Saturday (Feb. 12) morning.
Rescuers located Gajan’s body at approximately 3 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 12) on a canal levee in the marsh approximately one mile from his boat. Investigators revealed that he was shot with buckshot.
On Sunday morning, Quint Mire came forward and allegedly stated to investigators that he accidentally shot Gajan while hunting on Wednesday.
Officials said Mire told them he dropped Gajan off on the canal levee, and then went down and positioned himself farther down the same levee to wait for Gajan to drive a deer past his location. Mire said he thought Gajan was a deer as he walked through the trees and shot him.
Mire was booked into the Vermilion Parish Jail. The LDWF Enforcement Division and Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office are continuing the investigation of this incident.
If convicted of all three charges, Mire faces up to 28 years in jail and up to $65,000 in fines.