But but but... I'm worth MILLIONS!
Posted on 04/20/2006 6:42:31 PM PDT by grjr21
FOREST CITY, Fla. -- A $60 million lottery winner was shot by two Seminole County deputies. Robert Swofford, Jr. is in the hospital with four gunshot wounds.
Swofford, 54, may have thought the deputies on his private property were intruders, but the officers who were looking for a burglar. Instead, they ran into the armed man.
The Seminole County Sheriff's Office released video taken by their helicopter just moments after deputies shot Swofford at his home off 436 near Forest City. They said he had an semi-automatic weapon and refused to drop it.
Swofford's close friend told Channel 9 on Thursday that people are always lurking around his expensive cars on his property. A sheriff's search dog led two deputies onto Swofford's property from the back, about 200 feet behind the house. Then, the three found themselves gun to gun.
The two deputies, dog-handler Billy Morris, a 10-year veteran, and rookie officer Ronnie Remus, said they identified themselves as sheriff's deputies and told the man they thought was their car burglary suspect to drop the gun. Instead, they said, he moved the 9-millimeter handgun toward them and they opened fire.Later, they found out they had shot the $60 million lotto winner.
"My gut feeling is that an alarm went off in the house and he went off to investigate," said Swofford’s close friend Don Buchholz.Swofford's friends said he's installed cameras, sensors and alarm systems all over his property. Since he won the lotto jackpot, he's had a lot of trespassers."People coming on the property, scoping the cars out. We've had to chase them, yeah. We've had a lot of excitement around here," Buchholz said.
But the sheriff's office said they have no written reports of any trespassers on the property and would never recommend that someone take matters into their own hands, unless there was no other alternative, because of the very possibility that something like this could happen.The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is trying to find out why Swofford didn't drop his gun.
His friends don't understand why it happened either."I'm upset. I'm not pointing the finger at anybody. Right now, to me, it was a big accident," Buchholz said.This isn't the first time that Swofford has made headlines since winning the lotto jackpot.
First, he didn't collect the money until his divorce was final. But, eventually, as part of the divorce settlement, he gave his wife $5 million and he has now reunited with her. Then, he was sued twice by his wife's sister, with whom he also has a child.
Two deputies are on administrative leave after Thursday morning's shooting. Deputy Billy Morse has been with the sheriff's office for ten years. Deputy Ronnie Remus has been with Seminole County for one year.Sheriff's records show Deputy Billy Morris has had a few problems during his ten years on the force. Among them, he failed to identify himself as a deputy while off-duty breaking up a bar fight and he shot and killed a suspect's dog a few years ago while trying to make an arrest
I carry and keep guns around to protect myself and my family, but with that kind of cash, I would hire somebody to do it for me.
This ought to be good, let's see if our new "I was in fear of my life" law holds up here.
As soon as possible after winning the lottery, move to Galt's Gulch.
Facing cops telling me to drop my gun, I'm gonna do it. We can sort it out later without any holes in anybody.
I hope he survives.
All we need now to make the story complete is the discovery that the wife's sister with whom the lottery winner had the child was the wife of one of the deputies.
Shot four times, he's a tough old bird....
If I recall correctly this guy is an ex special forces member. So, he should know how to handle firearms.
There's a Springer episode waiting to happen.....
They were intruders.
All in the family...
Typical lottery winner.
Sounds like a robbery gone bad.
How'd you do that?
What a crock.
Just goes to show. God works in mysterious ways.
This guy does not appear to be the most deserving soul in the universe.
Best to see what the officers want first, then wait until they're leaving to pull your gun on them. Better luck next time. BTW, with $50 million on the table, there are plenty of sleezy lawyers waiting to take it from him.
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