TEHRAN, May 7 - A Florida sheriff's deputy was left clinging to life after being shot in the head Sunday while responding to a neighbors' dispute over a cat.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) – A Florida sheriff's deputy was left clinging to life after being shot in the head Sunday while responding to a neighbors' dispute over a cat.
In a Facebook post overnight, the Highlands County Sheriff's Office said Deputy William Gentry was critically wounded after a Lake Placid man suspected of shooting a cat opened fire at him.
Sheriff Paul Blackman told reporters that after speaking with the owner of the pet, Gentry approached the suspect, 69-year-old Joseph Edward Ables, at his front door on Baltimore Way.
Blackman said Ables shot Gentry in the head just before 8pm. The 40-year-old deputy was airlifted to Lee Memorial Hospital.
The sheriff's office tweeted early Monday that Gentry remained hospitalized in critical condition.
Ables was held without bond at the Highlands County Jail on charges of attempted first-degree murder without premeditation; possession of a weapon by a convicted felon; resisting an officer with violence; tampering with evidence and violation of probation.
According to officials, the 69-year-old man is an ex-convict with a history of violence towards law enforcement.
Online records show that in February 2015, Ables was arrested on a charge of battery upon a person 65 years or older. He was sentenced in that case to four years of probation.
The sheriff said in a statement that Gentry is a nine-year veteran on the force and serves as a field training deputy. His brother serves as a detective with the same agency.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott said in a statement on Twitter saying that hurting a law enforcement officer is 'pure evil and we won't stand for it.'
Source: Daily Mail
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