What happened when James Smith was arrested at 13 over an air rifle shooting?

James Smith told Modern Wisdom that at 13 he and a neighbour shot air rifle pellets at passing cars, not thinking of it as harm. One pellet went through an open back window and hit a passenger in the face, who needed seven stitches at Heatherwood Hospital. Smith was arrested, fingerprinted and photographed, then met the man to apologise. The man did not press charges, so there was no conviction, but Smith carried a police reprimand until he was 18.

• Police told Smith the pellet could have hit the driver or the man's young son, who was six or seven.
• Smith said the reprimand made him pour away alcohol whenever police stopped him as a teenager.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Modern Wisdom (2026-10-31). Read the whole episode summary →

▸More from this episode