DEBARY, Florida -- The Volusia County
Sheriff’s Office is investigating a family quarrel in DeBary early Monday
morning that resulted in the shooting of a 36-year-old man in the arm. A couple
told responding deputies that their adult son had attacked them and the father
used a rifle to defend himself. All three people involved were transported to
Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange
City by EVAC ambulance to
be treated for their non life-threatening injuries. Deputies say that the father isn’t
expected to face any charges due to firing in self defense, but the son does
face several charges.
Deputies were notified of
the disturbance at 540 Bernasek
Drive at about 2:17 a.m. They arrived on scene to
find the father, 61-year-old Dennis Smith, with multiple cuts and bruises on
his arms, legs and face. The son, Joshua Smith, had a gunshot wound to his left
arm and the mother, 60-year-old Linda Smith, had a dislocated shoulder.
The father told deputies
that he and his son were talking in the garage when an argument started. The
son got increasingly aggressive and eventually hit his dad in the face,
knocking him down. The mother then went to the garage to see what the commotion
was about and the son turned on her. He threw her to the ground, injuring her
shoulder. The father then grabbed a stick and started hitting his son with it
in order to get the son away from his mother. Deputies say that gave the mother an
opportunity to go back into the house and call for help.
As the fight continued in
the garage, the son allegedly wrestled the stick away from his father and then started
hitting him with it. The father was able to get away and he went to his bedroom
to retrieve a rifle. He went to the kitchen and found his son there who then
allegedly threatened him with a knife. In an attempt to keep his son away from him, the
father said he fired four times at a wall, but one bullet struck his son. The
fight finally ended and deputies started arriving on scene.
The son faces charges of
battery, aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated battery. In addition
to Monday’s charges, he was arrested on assault and battery charges that
had been filed on Saturday following another altercation at the DeBary home
between him and his father. The son had fled the scene that day before deputies
had arrived.
The son will be transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach when
he’s release from the hospital.
