Turtle-nest fight leaves one man wounded, another arrested, authorities say (Florida)

Cowboy_Ken

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By Anne Geggis Sun Sentinel

A turtle rescue led to a shooting in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea on Friday night when two volunteers intent on protecting sea turtle nests were confronted by a man saying he dislikes turtles and turtle volunteers, according to one of the volunteers.

After it was all over, one of the volunteers was hospitalized with a gunshot wound and the man who confronted them was arrested, the Broward Sheriff's Office said.

Michael Q. McAuliffe, 38, has been jailed without bond on two charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and battery on a person 65 or older.

Stan Pannaman, 72, of Tamarac, was taken to Broward Health Medical Center with a gunshot wound to his left hip Friday night. He was home Saturday night with the bullet still embedded in his hip, he said.

The shooting was reported about 11 p.m. on the beach near the 3900 block of El Mar Drive, the Sheriff's Office said.

Doug Young, president of the South Florida Audubon Society and Pannaman's fellow volunteer, described a surreal scene on the beach as he and a number of volunteers set off to monitor turtle nests about to hatch near El Mar Drive.

"There was a man sitting on a bench at the entrance of the beach who was giving off profanity," said Young, 64, of Tamarac. "He got up and went toward one of the nests and very aggressively started pulling the stakes out."

According to the Sheriff's Office, McAuliffe hit Young and then Pannaman pulled out a gun.

"In an attempt to de-escalate the situation, Pannaman pulled a gun out of his pocket," a sheriff's statement said. McAuliffe, undeterred, took the gun away from Pannaman, the agency said.

Young told the Sun Sentinel that Pannaman pointed the gun at the man as he explained that disrupting a sea turtle nest is a felony and he'd better stop.

Young said that Pannaman had put the gun back in his pocket. But then McAuliffe approached Young and hit him. The trio began wrestling, he said. And then McAuliffe had the gun.

"He said, 'I'm going to shoot,'" Young said.

Pannaman turned quickly enough that the bullet hit him in the left hip, Young said. "The guy freaked out when he saw the wound," Young said, recalling McAuliffe throwing the gun into the sand. "He was saying, 'I can't believe I did this. I can't believe I did this.'"

Police arrived on the scene shortly, Young said.

Richard Whitecloud, founder of Sea Turtle Oversight Protection, which works with Young's group to help distressed hatchlings, said he gets reports nightly about turtle volunteers getting harassed.

"Almost every night our people are dealing with people who are rude, aggressive and pursuing the nesting females," he said.

Carrying a gun is not part of his group's protocol, he said.

He wished the lighting restrictions were better observed along the beach, so he wouldn't have to have people out to help the hatchlings go eastward instead of toward the artificial lights along the beach, he said.

McAuliffe has had several run-ins with the law, records show. He last year pleaded no contest to battery on a person older than 65, a third-degree felony, and to indecent exposure, a misdemeanor. And in 2008, he was twice arrested on charges of criminal mischief. In each case, he pleaded no contest.
 

dmmj

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I suspect mental problems may have had a hand in this. Just a guess
 
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