Earl, a retired champion rope horse, and Buddy, a 5-year-old quarterhorse, were mysteriously shot last week in a Kapaia, Kauai pasture, leaving one dead and the other injured.

At 7:30 a.m. Thursday, owner Ben Ellsworth found Buddy shot in the face and standing over Earl, who was lying down in the pasture with a fatal wound to his side.

“I have no idea who” shot the horses, said Andrea Ellsworth. “I don’t think it was personal. I think it was probably random.”

Kauai Humane Society Executive Director Rebecca Rhoades said police believe the horses were shot with a high-powered rifle, judging from the size of the bullets removed from the animals.

The group is offering a $10,000 reward for tips that lead to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.

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Source: Leila Fujimori, Honolulu Star-Bulletin