DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — It was Sunday just before 7 p.m. when the peaceful quiet on the 15th hole of the Kings Point Golf Course was shattered by the sound of gunshots and retirees watching from their balconies were shocked to see a 74-year-old man shooting at a dog-walking neighbor.
Deputies arrived to find Herbert Merritt, 64, lying on the ground, a “gunshot wound to his left ankle,” according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
Nearby, they found Robert Levine, with a “black semi-automatic handgun in his front left pocket.”
Here’s how it went down according to Merritt (as reported by WPBF News):
Merritt told deputies he was walking his dog on the grass next to the golf course when Levine rode up in his golf cart and “Levine… began causing a verbal altercation with him due to having his dog on the golf course… He then began shooting at him while Merritt was running away.”
Levine chased Merritt around a tree while continuing to shoot – Merritt said he shot about five rounds at him, according to the report and witnesses.
Merritt told deputies he had never seen Levine before, did nothing to provoke him and “he felt that Levine was trying to kill him.”
Witnesses told deputies they saw Levine kick Merritt in the head, go back to his cart and get a club and begin beating Merrit with the club while holding the gun in his left hand. Deputies said they found shell casings on the ground and two golf clubs with what appeared to be blood on them.
Merritt was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries from being shot and beaten and Levine is apparently still in the hospital for unrelated reasons.
Levine is charged with attempted first-degree murder and other charges.
