Florida Man Fatally Shoots Friend For Threatening Him With Pitchfork

A Florida man has fatally shot his friend following an argument, deputies said Saturday.

The 34-year-old Ormond Beach area man confessed to the police that he killed his friend William Bay, who lived in his property, after a dispute with him.

The incident happened at around 8:30 p.m. Friday when the suspect and his friend were outside the house. The man, whose name has not been revealed, told the police that his friend pointed a pitchfork at him and threatened him with it.

The accused, who was armed with a gun at the time, reportedly asked Bay to put down the pitchfork, and he did. However, the victim aggressively advanced towards him afterward and the man fired the gun, said a release from the Volusia sheriff’s office. The accused remained at the scene after the incident and informed the police about it.

Bay, who lived in a separate house on the same property, was pronounced dead at the scene, reported local news outlet Orlando Sentinel. The shooter told the police that he felt threatened for his life and the life of his wife, who was inside the house during the incident.

The police have not made any formal charges against the shooter. The investigation is still underway.

In a similar incident in June 2020, a Florida man fatally shot his friend with a rifle he thought was unloaded, reported NBC Miami. The incident happened when the man pointed the gun against his friend as a joke and pulled the trigger without realizing that it was loaded. The victim was pronounced dead at the hospital. The suspect was arrested on charges of manslaughter.

The U.S. supreme court gives individuals the right to have guns and use them for self-defense. The law of self-defense does not allow any violent act just because the other person made a violent threat. The law requires a person who is being attacked or threatened with an imminent attack to act reasonably, retreat if possible without taking any action and use only the amount of force reasonably necessary to fend off the attacker.