The National Park Service says two people have been charged in the fatal shooting of an Assateague Island wild horse during a public deer hunt.
Officials said Tuesday that an Easton, Md., resident has been charged with four violations for shooting the 28-year-old female horse during a public deer hunt in January, and a second person from Preston, Md., was charged with knowingly giving a false or fictitious report.
Each violation carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $5,000 fine. The individuals were not identified.
There are more than 300 wild ponies on Assateague, a barrier island that straddles the Maryland-Virginia line. Every summer on the Virginia side of the island, the ponies are rounded up and swim
across the Assateague Channel to Chincoteague, where foals are auctioned off.
