THE BLOOD ON THIS CHAIR INDICATES THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE GUNSHOT INJURIES SUSTAINED BY A MAN IN THE GREELEY HILL AREA. HE STUMBLED TO A HOME TO ASK FOR HELP AND SAT WAITING FOR EMERGENCY PERSONNEL TO ARRIVE. THE FOLLOWING DAY, A MARIJUANA GARDEN WAS LOCATED IN THE SAME VICINITY. A man with a gunshot wound to his chest stumbled out of the woods and to a Greeley Hill area home on April 26, asking for help. The man said he was homeless from Merced and was camping in the remote area.

The 911 call requesting medical help came in around 10 p.m. When personnel arrived, they found the man bleeding from the wound. The bullet had pierced his chest above his heart and exited his back. He also had a collapsed lung, but is expected to recover well.

The man’s story was difficult for law enforcement to piece together, partially because of his serious injury. He told deputies that he had hitch hiked to the area and came across a path. While exploring the path, he said that he was confronted by two Spanish speaking men who shot him.

MARIPOSA COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES RETURNED TO THE AREA WHERE A MAN WAS SHOT ON MONDAY NIGHT ONLY TO DISCOVER AN ILLEGAL MARIJUANA GARDEN. The following day, deputies returned to the area to continue the investigation and found a large marijuana garden. They located a trail on Bureau of Land Management land and found numerous single strand trip wires, eventually leading to the the garden.

Once in the garden, officers eradicated 7,980 starter plants. There was no one in the garden, and it appeared the camp had been removed. The investigation continues, and officers do not know for sure if the shooting and garden are in fact related.

It is very early in the season, but Mariposa County law enforcement has already seized some 16,000 marijuana plants. Undersheriff Doug Binnewies said it gives officers the opportunity to remind and caution residents about the dangers of wilderness marijuana gardens. He said local law enforcement continues to partner with state and federal agencies to aggresively combat the cultivation that is occurring on Mariposa County’s public lands.

“The drug trafficking organizations continue to occupy and damage our public lands and present a fair risk to visitors who may inadvertently walk into an active area,” Binnewies said.

Gardens are typically occupied this time of year, Binnewies said, and remain so through September. “We ask that all remain careful and aware when enjoying our public lands and bordering properties,” he said.

Should someone come across evidence of a garden, such as suspicious people, marijuana plants or odor, man-made noise, irrigation tubing, damming of streams, camps, firearms and/or booby traps, they should leave the area immediately and contact the sheriff’s of- fice.