SHREWSBURY – Residents of the Cypress St neighborhood have expressed concerns over an issue that most are unaware of, which is the shooting of rifles and shotguns in the woods behind Shrewsbury High School, at a time when over 1600 students are less than one hundred feet away.
The concern expressed is not to be viewed as an issue of the social morays of hiding in a tree, shooting an animal to death and strapping it to the hood of your car, while students are driving by on the school bus and watch. Many have our own opinion on the ethical issues behind that, but all people have the ability to exersize their legal rights and this isn’t about a referendum over the sport of hunting.
Rather the issue is one of whether this is a permissible hunting area, and even if it is, whether it represents a threat to the safety of our children. To the north of the high school complex, as shown in the arial view above, there is a set of electric lines that cut through the woods. These can be accessed off what used to be the old cul-de-sac at the top of Cypress Ave. According to the Shrewsbury GIS map, ( http://gis.shrewsbury-ma.gov ), the majority of this area is land owned by the Town of Shrewsbury, over which the power company holds an easement for their lines.
Speaking with residents of the area, walking down the path of these lines, one will find multiple sites of hunting blinds set up in the trees. Whether those are on town property or not is yet to be determined. Regardless of that, you can tell from the picture just how close this area is to the school, well within the range of a stray rifle shot.
As we near the Spring track season, the cross country runners run through a trail in the woods on the north side of the building, and through the woods, and so one may stop and wonder what hazards might exist if an accidental overlap occurred between those hunting in the area as students were running through the woods.
Hopefully members of the Shrewsbury police department can look into the matter and work with the applicable state agencies to make sure that the area around our schools remains a gun free zone.
