MT VERNON — A family is claiming that a police chief showed utter disrespect to them after firing a gun illegally in a conservation zone and causing a nearby horse to buck off a child.

Police Chief David Hubert has been cited for illegally discharging a firearm on conservation land.

Katelyn Branstetter, her boyfriend Derek, and her 5-yr-old her daughter had been riding on horseback, as is typical for visitors of the conservation land.

Suddenly they started hearing gunfire nearby.

As the bullets rang out, the horses became startled and bucked into the air.

The 5-yr-old girl was bucked off of her horse and tangled in its straps, then dragged for 20 yards by her foot as the horse was trying to escape the sound of the bullets.

The family was horrified that this could happen, since they were in the safe designated areas for horseback riding.

About 50 rounds of ammunition had been fired off by the time Katelyn was able to catch up with her daughter and begin comforting her.

Finally Katelyn was able to track down the shooters.

“I said, ‘What are you doing? You’re shooting right at the trail!’” said Katelyn.

In response to her concern, Chief Hubert “showed no remorse, no compassion, he could have cared less,” said Katelyn.

“He made no offer to call for help or anything,” she added.

That is when Derek, Katelyn’s boyfriend, decided to have a man-to-man talk with Police Chief Hubert.

“I told him, “Just be a man, go up there and apologize to them and it’ll all be over,” said Derek.

“And then he [Hubert] said ‘I’m not apologizing for anything and you can go fuck yourself.’”

Since the news came out, the Chief is now claiming that he doesn’t “remember what all they said,” and claims that he was not disrespectful.

“I do know that at no time did I use profanity, nor did I act disrespectful,” said Chief Hubert.

A conservation agent was called, who informed Chief Hubert that it was illegal to fire guns on conservation land.

Chief Hubert now says he did not know it was illegal, and has since apologized during city council meetings.

Do you think Chief Hubert’s apology is sincere, or is he only apologizing now that the family went public?

Let us know after you watch the video below: