Was a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd shot after plane crash?

Artimus Pyle was an American musician who played the drums with the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1974 to 1977 and from 1987 to 1991.

Artimus Pyle was shot after the plane crash that took place on October 20, 1977.  The plane crash killed six people, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines.

Artimus Pyle suffered a torn chest cartilage but managed to walk several hundred yards through a rill and a field to a farmhouse for assistance.

Pyle’s appearance alarmed Johnny Mote, a 21-year-old farmer who mistook him for an escaped convict and fired a warning shot over Pyle’s head. Artimus Pyle later joked about being hit in the shoulder, but his other accounts differ.

When interviewed at the crash site for VH1’s 2002 documentary Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Uncivil War, Mote also refutes the claim that Pyle was shot.

When Pyle shouted that there had been a plane crash, Mote realised what was going on, helped Pyle inside his house, and was part of the initial rescue party.

The 1977 plane crash altered the course of rock and roll history. With three of its members gone, the band would not perform for the next ten years, until Ronnie’s brother, Johnny, took over as lead singer.

Artimus Pyle lives in Asheville, North Carolina. He has three sons, two daughters, and two grandchildren and has been married twice