David Schutt became a jailbird for killing a pigeon.
The junior in engineering rents a house with his friends near the U, which has a roof covered by enough pigeons to recall scenes from “The Birds.” A city building inspector demanded that the residents do something about the birds, so on Easter morning, Schutt went outside with a BB gun and fired shots at the pigeons to scare them away, according to a police report.
“I wasn’t trying to kill them or nothing, just trying to pick them off (my roof),” Schutt said. But a stray pellet struck one of his feathered foes dead on.
Only minutes later, Schutt’s house was surrounded by five Salt Lake City police officers, called by a neighbor who saw the student shooting the birds, he said. They arrested and booked him in Salt Lake County Jail for animal cruelty and firing a weapon inside city limits, both of which are misdemeanors.
“It was a pretty stupid idea, broad daylight with a BB gun, but I figured guns are legal in Utah and its nothing nobody’s seen a million times,” Schutt said.
He was getting ready to try on some jail clothes to spend the night when a detention officer asked him why he was here. The student said he’d shot a pigeon.
“He said, “Are you serious man?'” Schutt said. Moments later, they released him.
Since then, the pigeons have returned to Schutt’s home. He said he has no idea how to get rid of them.
David Schutt