A woman in her 70s says someone fired a pellet gun at her and a friend as they walked along the Fernleigh Track last week, as more stories surface about acts of intimidation and violence on the popular trail.
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The retired Newcastle primary school teacher, who asked for her name not to be made public out of concern for safety, told the Herald she and a friend were on the track near Whitebridge just after 10am last Wednesday (July 17) when they heard three "ping" sounds as something hit a tree and the ground near them at high speed.
She said it looked and sounded unmistakably like pellet shots.
The pair saw two boys, believed to be young teenagers, on a rise about 50 metres away.
The former teacher said one of the boys roared at them when they made eye contact, in a way she described as a "war cry".
"They were glaring at us. We didn't want to initiate anything with them," she said.
"We continued to walk and we were quite scared. Initially, we were a little nervous they might come down the track but they didn't."
The former teacher told the Herald she regretted not reporting the incident to police.
While they believed it was a pellet gun that had been fired at them, they had not actually seen a weapon in the boys' possession so they questioned whether there was something concrete to report.
"We really felt it was a pellet gun. It was a very quick, expressive noise," she said.
"It was such a quick encounter and we were very uncomfortable ... we were concerned they might come after us.
"We felt very vulnerable, especially two older ladies. It begs the question what could happen. Some pretty scary things could happen if people like that are lurking around."
She agreed to tell her story of intimidation and alleged violence after the Herald reported this week that a 22-year-old woman was assaulted and nearly hit by a dirt bike, which had two young boys riding it, on the track at Whitebridge at the weekend.
Public safety on the 16km Fernleigh Track has been a long-running issue.
In late 2022, 85-year-old Greg Hood was seriously injured after he was allegedly run off his pushbike by two people riding either e-bikes or small motorbikes. Mr Hood died while still in hospital being rehabilitated for his injuries nine months later.
