Hitchhiker Writing Book About Kindness in America Shoots Self in Desperate Act of Self-Promotion

A 52-year-old Montanan man charged with the shooting has had the charges against him dropped.

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Earlier this month, a hitchhiker writing a book about kindness in America was allegedly shot by a stranger on the side of the road. The irony made headlines.

Last week, said hitchhiker reportedly confessed to police that he actually shot himself in a shameless act of self-promotion.

West Virginia photographer Ray Dolan, 39, originally told police that he had been winged in the upper arm by a man in a pickup truck in Montana. Authorities soon arrested Lloyd Christopher Danielson III, 52—who was driving under the influence at the time of the arrest—for the shooting.

But Dolan’s story began to unravel days later when investigators questioned him at the hospital where he was recovering. County Sheriff Glen Meier told The Missoulian that the gun used in the shooting had been recovered and that Dolan had confessed to concocting the story. Felony assault charges against Danielson have since been dropped.

Incidentally, the logo for Dolan’s photography business, OneShot Impressions, features the cross-hairs of a rifle scope.

MORE: The Kindness of Strangers