By Editor,Emma Richter

Copyright dailymail

A pair of female birdwatchers enjoying a relaxing afternoon in New York had to run for their lives when a camouflage-clad man aimed his rifle ‘directly’ at them and opened fire.

The two women, who asked to remain anonymous, made their way to ‘The Flats’ in Cohoes about 15 minutes from Albany on Friday for what was supposed to be a peaceful day.

After making a spot for themselves around noon, they saw a man later identified as Kurt James wearing a ‘camouflage face covering with an eye slit and a camo shirt,’ one of the birdwatchers told NEWS10.

The women saw the 43-year-old pack up a gun and walk away – but that’s when the unthinkable happened.

‘Then he took the gun out of the case and aimed it directly at us,’ one of the women recalled of seeing the suspect through binoculars holding the gun in his hands.

The friends immediately ‘jumped down behind this concrete wall that we were sitting on and ran’ as James fired, one of them said.

James had bee ‘shooting all over the place,’ Cohoes Chief of Police Todd Waldin told the Daily Mail, adding that people in the next town over also saw him firing wildly.

At the scene, police recovered 42 shell casings and about 150 live rounds, Waldin added to NEWS10.

‘A lot of shooting going off. Certainly, extremely dangerous behavior. And we’re just very grateful that no one was injured,’ the chief said.

He added that several other witnesses called police to report the incident, confirming the terrified birdwatchers’ story.

‘There were two other gentlemen who were witnesses for us who saw what took place and could confirm the victim’s account.

‘So, you just don’t know what you’re going to hit if you’re being as reckless and irresponsible as this person was,’ Waldin added.

He said no one was struck by the bullets and only the two birdwatchers reported being shot at.

A terrifying image shared by police showed James aiming his weapon.

Although the the .22 caliber rifle is considered small, Waldin said ‘it can definitely hurt people and it can definitely kill people.’

James, of Albany, told police he was there that day goose hunting, but the police chief said that doesn’t add up.

‘You don’t goose hunt with a .22 caliber rifle, and he had no license to be hunting down there,’ he told the Times Union.

‘The problem is, we don’t know what this guy’s mindset was. He didn’t explain what his thought process was,’ the chief continued.

James was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment and one count of criminal possession of a weapon, all felonies.

A judge released him under supervision and he is due in court on Thursday.

Waldin told the Daily Mail that those specific charges were brought against James because he engaged in ‘the most serious level of recklessness’.

Meanwhile, the two women he allegedly aimed at said they are trying to put the frightening incident behind them.

‘I think we’ll be back. It’s really such a beautiful spot. There are so many birds that come here and are really wonderful,’ one of them said.

‘I would like to think that this was just a random chance.’

The Daily Mail contacted the Cohoes Police Department for comment.