The victim didn’t want charges in a flare gun shooting, but that’s not stopping police
A Florida Keys man was shot in the head with a flare gun earlier this year in a Marathon parking lot.
But he didn’t want to press charges.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, however, isn’t letting the case disappear.
On Thursday, deputies jailed 46-year-old Joseph Edward Dooley on a felony charge of possession of a weapon by a felon and misdemeanor charges of firing a weapon in public and failure to register as a convicted felon.
Dooley, who is listed as homeless, on Friday remained at the county jail on Stock Island on $21,500 bond.
On June 13 at 3:50 a.m., the 45-year-old victim was found in Kmart’s parking lot bleeding from the head. He was taken to Fishermen’s Community Hospital in Marathon with injuries that were not life-threatening, the sheriff’s office said.
A witness stated he saw the suspect shoot the victim twice with a flare gun in the nearby Brass Monkey bar parking lot.
The two had been fighting, the witness said.
Police said they found in the parking lot a flare gun that held one spent flare cartridge and three live flares, along with a bloody hat and five cans of alcoholic beverages.
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 3:47 PM.
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