Opossum shooting draws police inquiry

MISHAWAKA — A man wanting to rid his yard of an opossum drew the interest of police Tuesday, after a security guard at John Young Middle School reported hearing a gunshot nearby. Police about 8:30 a.m. went to a home on nearby Colfax Avenue, where they found a dead opossum lying in a trap in a yard that bordered the school. The 73-year-old homeowner told police that the opossum had been a nuisance to his garden last summer and that when he saw the animal in his yard recently, he decided to try capturing in a wire box trap. After catching the animal, the man told police, he decided to shoot it with a .22-caliber rifle, firing one time into the cage. Police told the man it was against the law to fire a gun on city property, but instead of citing him, warned him to not do it again.