A mother shot a man after he broke into her Palm Coast home June 14 and threatened her and her two children in what Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly called an example of Florida’s stand your ground law.
But even after he was shot, the man continued to fight the woman for a short time, an affidavit stated.
Michael McDonald, 33, of Palm Coast, was charged with burglary with assault.
He is being held without bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility.
The woman and her two children were not injured.
Sheriff’s deputies caught up with McDonald in the parking lot of AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway hospital where he was going for treatment, the sheriff’s office stated.
They arrested him and escorted him inside the facility for treatment of a non-life-threatening injury.
McDonald and the homeowner knew each other
Police described McDonald as a former friend who had not been to the house in about five weeks and was not invited or expected on June 14.
McDonald manually opened the garage door to the Big Bear Lane home, according to a charging affidavit.
The mother said that she received an alert that her garage door had been opened and then her two children ran into her bedroom and appeared frightened, the affidavit stated. She then saw McDonald banging on the bedroom window.
Mother loads gun as McDonald bangs on window of Palm Coast house
The woman loaded one bullet into her gun, the affidavit stated.
McDonald entered either through the front door or the garage door, according to the affidavit, and “aggressively confronted” the woman and her two children in the foyer while yelling threats.
McDonald “repeatedly pulled up his pants in an aggresive manner as if he intended to fight her 16-year-old son,” while making threats, the charging affidavit stated.
The teen said McDonald was “pushing up” on him as if he planned to fight him.
McDonald was also demanding money, the affidavit stated.
The mother repeatedly told McDonald to leave and warned she would shoot him.
The woman’s 11-year-old son said that McDonald responded, “I don’t care, shoot me.”
But McDonald continued advancing on her. The woman fired a single shot, hitting McDonald in the arm.
The woman said McDonald continued trying to fight her for a short time even after he was shot, the affidavit stated.
McDonald then fled in a silver Kia SUV, the sheriff’s office stated.
The mother called 911 to say she had shot a man who had entered her home. Deputies arrived within minutes to find blood at the scene.
They found McDonald in the hospital’s parking lot, the sheriff’s office press release stated.
McDonald confirmed to a detective that he had been at the home and that he understood why the woman and her family would fear for their safety, the affidavit stated.
Staly: Shooting an example of stand your ground law
McDonald’s criminal history includes arrests on charges of grand theft; possession of controlled substances; resisting; obstruction; possession with intent to sell; DUI; and robbery with a firearm.
“Florida is a stand-your-ground state and when someone invades your home and threatens you and your family, they will likely be shot,” Sheriff Rick Staly stated in a release. “I strongly support the Second Amendment, and this is proof why we have the stand your ground law. This violent re-offender has not learned his lesson. Hopefully, he will now as his bad decision could have cost him his life.”
The investigation is continuing and anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff’s office non-emergency line at 386-313-4911 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Woman shoots man who threatened her and her children in Palm Coast
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal | USA TODAY Network
