Worker Shot by Drilling Opponent at West Virginia Well
The victim, Mark Miller, is a foreman for HG Energy, which is based out of Parkersburg.
Miller spoke with WSAZ over the phone Wednesday morning from his hospital room.
Miller told WSAZ he was out taking pictures of a crude oil leak. When he was leaving the site, he says a tall, lanky man dressed in camouflage, with black stuff rubbed all over his face, approached his vehicle. Miller stopped because he thought the man needed help.
"That's nothing new," Miller said. "There's always somebody hung up (in that area)."
Miller said the man walked up to the right side of his vehicle and put a tape recorder up to the window.
"Then he stuck a gun up to the window and played the tape recorder," Miller said. "It was really hard to hear. It was talking about 'stopping the drilling or no more drilling' -- something like that."
Miller says the man didn't say a single word during their encounter.
"About the time the tape recorder stopped, he pointed it (the gun) at my head, so I grabbed it," he said.
However, the man was still able to pull the trigger. The bullet hit Miller in the hand, near his knuckles, and shattered a bone.Click here to read more.
I think it's safe to say that there aren't too many anti-drilling activists out there that would approve of the actions of the at-large gunman. However, the reality is that there is a minority of activists out there who do speak in terms of violent protest against drilling. Whether it's intended as hyperbole or not, it's the type of language that can stir people to think they are justified to kill or injure "for the cause."
It's frightening and disturbing to think of what that could mean to workers like Miller and their families.
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