Man Shot for Attempting to Prevent Drunk Driving

WALDO ‒ Ernest Francis Dority, 86, of Waldo was arrested at 10:47 p.m., Saturday, April 23, after allegedly shooting a man who wouldn’t give him his car keys after he had been drinking at a party.

According to the arrest report, Dority had been engaged in a verbal dispute after a party with a man who had taken his car keys in the belief that Dority was too intoxicated to drive.

Dority reportedly left the party on foot and returned with a revolver, pulled it from a holster and demanded his keys. He then allegedly fired one round, striking the victim in the face/head. Dority then left on foot and was detained by deputies a short time later. Deputies reported that he had an empty holster in his pocket when he was detained and that they found a revolver sitting on the passenger seat of his vehicle.

A witness told deputies that they saw Dority return to the party with a gun in his hand. That person made everyone else go inside. They then said they heard a gunshot and found the victim in the yard with a gunshot wound to the head. Witnesses told deputies that the victim did not have a gun.

Post Miranda, Dority reportedly admitted to shooting the victim from roughly six feet away but claimed that the victim had a gun in his hand and that he fired in self-defense.

Dority has been charged with attempted murder and is being held on $500,000 bond.

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