ORANGE CITY, Florida -- A 68-year-old man was
injured Friday night while inside his home near Orange City
by bullets shot through the house. An acquaintance of the victim, a 63-year-old
man who lives a couple of blocks away, has been charged in the shooting.
Volusia County
Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a report of a shooting at a
residence on Greenwood Avenue.
The victim had been struck in the arm and neck by bullets that were fired
through a window in the front of the house. At least one bullet also struck the
exterior of the home.
When deputies began arriving at 10:02 p.m., the victim
was bleeding heavily, but still walking and talking. While the victim told
deputies that he didn’t see who fired the shots, he immediately suspected
that Lawrence Craig, who lives a couple of blocks away, was the culprit.
Deputies put Craig’s house under surveillance and took him into custody
shortly before 1 a.m. on Saturday morning as he was allegedly crawling under a fence in a
neighbor’s yard. A Sheriff’s K-9 unit later located the shotgun
believed to be used in the shooting in a nearby yard, partially buried under
dirt and leaves.
During an interview at
Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, where the victim was taken for
treatment of his wounds, the victim told Sheriff’s investigators that he
has known Craig for about two years and that he has recently noticed a change
in him, including aggressive and paranoid behavior.
The victim also said that
Craig recently had made threats to kill mutual friends, including a man who owns
a machine shop near DeLand. Deputies say that Craig apparently is upset with the man over a
business transaction. The owner first reported the threats on Thursday, and the
next day, his yard was damaged by someone who drove over it and the wooden sign
in front of his business was hit by an apparent shotgun blast.
Earlier this
week, the victim from Friday night’s shooting said that Craig had
threatened him over the phone, saying that he “had a bullet in his gun
for him.” Craig’s son-in-law also told Sheriff’s investigators
that Craig said he had a list of people he was planning to kill and that the victim from Friday night’s shooting was at the top of the list.
On Friday night, the victim heard what initially sounded to him like fireworks
going off outside his house. While in his living room, the victim then heard
another loud noise and immediately felt pain to his arm, shoulder and the side
of his face.
The victim was treated at
the hospital and released Saturday morning. Craig was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in
Daytona Beach on charges of attempted 1st-degree murder, shooting
into an occupied dwelling and use of a weapon while in the commission of a
felony.
