Gun found in water at Reaume Park by magnet fisher
Windsor resident Bill Hutton is new to the hobby of magnet fishing, but he’s already had some excitement pulling a gun out of the Detroit River.
“Usually, it’s fishing tackle and lures. Stuff like pliers and rebar,” said Hutton, 42. “I don’t think I’ll ever get anything this cool again.”
Magnet fishing involves using a powerful neodymium magnet on a fishing line to troll bodies of water in hopes of finding interesting metal objects.
Hutton said he recently bought his magnet — advertised as having a pull force of 1,700 pounds — for about $75 online. On Feb. 29, he took his gear to Windsor’s Reaume Park off Pillette Road to spend an afternoon dipping his magnet into the Detroit River.
It didn’t take long for the magnet to attach to something underwater. Hutton said he knew right away he had snagged a gun as the long, mud-covered object came out of the river. “You see things like this in Youtube videos,” Hutton said.
Hutton took the firearm home and cleaned off the muck. His “treasure” was a decades-old .22-calibre bolt-action rifle.
The barrel had been sawed off, and marks on the wooden rifle butt indicated someone had been in the process of making the gun more concealable.
“It was definitely used in the commission of a crime, in my opinion,” Hutton said.
The weapon was non-functioning due to spending untold years in the water caked in mud.
Nevertheless, Hutton contacted Windsor police, who sent officers to collect the prohibited item.
“The one thing they did tell me is that I shouldn’t have transported it,” Hutton said. “I should have called police right away.”
Hutton said he has since learned the rifle appears to be the product of Canadian gun manufacturer Cooey, and likely dates back to the 1970s. Cooey was based in Cobourg before it was bought out by Winchester. Manufacture of Cooey firearms ceased in 1979.
Finding guns in the water at Reaume Park isn’t new. In July 2016, Windsor resident Jesse Glen pulled up a heavily-rusted revolver while fishing off the Pillette Dock.
Last weekend, a couple in Wallaceburg found a live M36 hand grenade while magnet fishing in the Thames River.