The normally serene senior-citizen community of Kings Point, which sits near Palm Beach, Florida, has been rattled by a shooting on its golf course that sent one resident to a hospital and saw another charged with attempted murder, according to a story in the Palm Beach Post.
Here’s more from the story:
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said Robert Levine fired five shots at Herbert Merritt on the evening of April 24 because Merritt was walking his dog too close to the golf course at Kings Point, a sprawling community of 12,000 residents and 7,200 condominiums built in the 1970s and 1980s off Atlantic Avenue near Jog Road.
One shot struck Merritt in his left ankle, and Levine then hit the 64-year-old several times with a golf club as Merritt sat by a tree bleeding from the gunshot wound, according to witnesses. Police recovered four shell casings and two golf clubs splattered with “a blood-like substance.”
“This is something that does not happen around here,” said Terry Eichas, a 12-year resident of Kings Point who specializes in sales at the retirement community. “Everyone is a bit on edge. People are very much aware of what happened, but it could have happened anywhere.”
More than 7,000 condominium units are sandwiched into a one-square mile area on Atlantic Avenue west of Jog Road in an unincorporated area of the county. It falls under the jurisdiction of PBSO.
Prosecutors have charged Levine with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm in public. He remains in the Palm Beach County Jail, where County Judge Ted Booras ordered him to be held without bail.
According to the story, Merritt told deputies he was walking his dog when Levine complained that the dog was too close to the golf course. Levine approached him on a golf cart. A verbal altercation ensued. Levine then pulled out a gun and pointed it at Merritt, who began to run, according to the PBSO report.
“Levine chased Merritt around a tree while continuing to shoot,” the report said. Merritt fell to the ground after being shot. Levine then retrieved a golf club from his cart and struck Merritt at least four times, the report said. Merritt began yelling for residents to call 911, which several people did. Merritt told police he did nothing to provoke Levine and did not know him.
Merritt received treatment for his gunshot wound at Delray Medical Center. Doctors there also attended to Levine after the confrontation. The report does not describe Merritt’s dog by either size or breed.
The golf course has always been one of the community’s top amenities. Several years ago, Kings Point allowed nonresidents to use the course.