Scene of the shooting of the quarterhorse Palamino named April. Her colt, Roxy, stands nearby. Photo credit: Atchison Co Sheriff's Office 

(KAIR)--Constant gunshots cause fear and leave property damage. Now, a horse is dead, killed by what Atchison County Sheriff's investigators believe are likely the same shooters.

Undersheriff Joe Butner tells MSC News the shooting has been occurring along River Road, near 230th Road, in the southeast corner of Atchison County. "We have been contacting all the neighbors around the area, questioning them, and hearing stories about random gunshots, bullets whizzing by their houses. Damage being done.[We] hope somebody will step up and let us know who did this, who killed this horse. It's not just a horse, it was the man's pet, it had a [7-month-old] colt [named Roxy] right there next to it. The colt stayed with her all night while she was dead. Pretty heart wrenching."

It's believe the 22-year-old quarter horse Palamino, named April, and owned by Lloyd Boldridge, suffered the fatal gunshot sometime between Sunday night and 5:00 Monday evening.

Days later, it was a nearby goose that suffered a gunshot.

Butner says that discovery was made after residents in the area heard gunshots around 12:30 Thursday afternoon. "We got a call from one of the neighbors about a shotgun blast, near her home. She goes and investigates and calls us. In the middle of the road was a goose that had been shot, obviously, with a shotgun, just left dead on the roadway. It's indiscriminate. They're shooting at anything that moves."

Butner says concerns of more property damage, or even the loss of human life, is possible, based on the discovery of bullet holes on property belonging to a neighbor of Boldridge. "We're concerned about where the bullet's going. These people aren't looking for backstops, they're trespassing. One of the neighbors, just a half-mile from where the horse was shot, showed me a building that had numerous bullet holes from people stopping, shooting, at traffic signs, and her building and house as a backstop. She told me it wasn't uncommon to hear bullets whizz by her house, at which time she said she would just go back in her house and hunker down."

So far, no definite suspects have been developed, but Butner says the Sheriff's Office is focused on the area of the shootings.

He urges anyone near that location to contact authorities if they hear gunshots, or if they have any information pertaining to the investigation.