A Florida man was arrested after allegedly shooting a relative in the face during an argument over how often the family visited him, according to police.
William Nowak, 84, faces a charge of attempted murder following the incident earlier this week.
Officers were called to the Palm Bay home on Tuesday after a woman reported that her father-in-law had “just shot her husband in the head,” according to the probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
The victim was barely able to speak when police arrived. He was rushed to a hospital and later sedated. The bullet had fragmented and lodged in his face and jaw, the affidavit states.
Nowak lives at the home with his 85-year-old wife and their disabled daughter. His wife had recently been placed on in-home hospice care, and “William has been taking care of both of them,” according to the affidavit.
His son and daughter-in-law told police that they visit Nowak weekly. But when they arrived at the house around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nowak “began to express how he was upset they did not visit over the weekend,” according to the affidavit.
The conversation escalated into an argument, and at one point Nowak allegedly told his son, “Get out of my house or I’m going to shoot you.”
After making the threat, Nowak then walked into his bedroom and retrieved a gun. The victim’s wife followed him, begging him to put the weapon down, but Nowak ignored her and walked towards his son, according to the affidavit.
He then allegedly pointed the gun at his son and fired, “striking him in the face,” police said. Nowak then took the gun back to the bedroom, and said something like “What just happened?” before “crying and screaming,” according to the affidavit.
Nowak was hospitalized for high blood pressure and “appeared to be incoherent and could not answer any questions,” the detective wrote in the affidavit.
He was medically cleared Wednesday and booked into the Brevard County Jail where he was ordered by a judge to be held without bond.
His arraignment is scheduled for January 8.
