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A swimming pool service technician in Florida is recovering after he was shot by a homeowner whose pool he was cleaning – because the gunman thought he was an intruder.
The shooting occurred in the backyard of Dunedin resident s Bradley and Jana Hocevar, according to Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. When Jana noticed someone in their backyard, Bradley – a retired Army lieutenant colonel – reportedly shouted at the man from inside, telling him to leave. When the man didn’t respond, Hocevar grabbed an assault rifle and crouched down behind his couch, waiting for the intruder to enter, a sheriff’s report reveals. When Hocevar saw the light from a flashlight on the home’s arcadia doors, he fired – 28 times, sheriff’s officials say.
It turns out the “intruder” was Karl Polek, an employee of a pool service the Hocevar’s had contracted to care for their swimming pool. Fortunately, Polek ran after being struck by shrapnel from the first shot – so the other 27 missed him. Citing Florida’s “stand your ground” law, Gualtieri is calling the incident “lawful but awful.”
How does this incident fall under the “stand your ground law” when the victim wasn’t actually an intruder?
Here is the Press Conference about the incident.