A Leesburg man broke into his niece’s Edgewater residence March 15 and shot her boyfriend when he came home and tried to get inside, police said.
Christopher Ryan Merritt, 41, the estranged uncle, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and resisting arrest without violence.
He remained locked up March 16 without bail at the Volusia County Branch Jail.
The shooting occurred around 6 p.m. at a home in the 100 block of Yelkca Terrace, according to Edgewater Police.
The victim’s girlfriend transported him to a local hospital where he was listed in stable condition, police said in a March 16 news release.
Leesburg man uses victim’s shotgun to shoot him
Police said an investigation showed that Merritt broke into the Edgewater home. Shortly after, the victim arrived home and saw Merritt’s vehicle in the driveway, realizing that Merritt had unlawfully entered the home.
The victim tried to enter but found the front door locked, so he went to a window to try to make contact with Merritt, police said.
That’s when Merritt, who was inside the house, grabbed the victim’s shotgun and shot him through the window striking him in the right arm and causing a severe injury, police said.
Merritt refused to leave the house when police arrived, even when they ordered him multiple times to do so, a news release posted on Facebook states.
Police then forced their way into the home and deployed a Taser, stunning Merritt and arresting him, the Facebook post said.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Estranged uncle shoots niece’s boyfriend in Edgewater home, police say
Reporting by Patricio G. Balona, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
