May 19
A 72-year-old man was shot in the chest Saturday while golfing with his family at the Glen Oaks Golf Course.Police said they did not know where the bullet came from, but it did not appear that Albert S. Michalczyk, had been targeted. No suspects had been identified late Saturday, said Clearwater police Lt. James Steffens.
Michalczyk was treated and released from Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.
After the shooting on the seventh hole, police sealed off the course and scoured the scene but found no physical evidence, Steffens said. He said the bullet may have passed completely through Michalczyk.
"We're trying to develop exactly where the victim was standing and confirm the angles, and there's just a lot of possibilities," Steffens said. "We think it was a shot fired nearby from the ground."
He said police were focusing on the west of the course for clues.
Officers canvassed the surrounding neighborhood into the evening hours Saturday but uncovered nothing that would lead to a suspect, Stefens said. No one with Michalczyk or nearby saw anything suspicious, he said.
The golf course, at 1345 Court St., was not crowded when the shooting happened, police said. It has a capacity for 160 golfers, and about 40 were playing Saturday when the shooting took place, said course co-founder Bill Hayes.
Hayes said Michalczyk is a tourist from Arizona who was golfing with his son, grandson and wife.
Steffens said there was no indication of trouble before the shooting and there had been no arguments involving Michalczyk.
The course will be closed today, Hayes said, and will probably remain closed until police find out what happened.
May 21
Authorities on Monday were still trying to determine how a 72- year-old Arizona man ended up with a gunshot wound in his chest during a round of golf Saturday.Police said they plan to continue canvassing the surrounding neighborhood for clues and will likely use an automatic telephone system to solicit information.
"We're probably going to do an autodial asking people what happened," said Wayne Shelor, Clearwater police spokesman. "We're also thinking about doing fliers that will be distributed in both English and Spanish."
Although investigators did not find the bullet, Shelor said Albert S. Michalczyk was probably shot Saturday with a small- caliber rifle while standing near the tee box of the seventh hole at the Glen Oaks Golf Course.
Mary Jay Johnson, who lives east of the seventh hole at 1355 Pine St., said she dialed 911 after a woman with whom Michalczyk was golfing ran screaming to her house.
"We were sitting in the house and one of my daughters said they heard screaming," Johnson said. "She said her husband was shot. By the time we got out there the man was sitting on the bench with a towel on his chest."
"I've lived here 38 years and we've never heard of anything like this," she added. "It's just sort of weird."
Despite the peculiar nature of the shooting, police said they do not believe Michalczyk was targeted.
"We know it was a small-caliber (gun) because there was just a little hole in him," Shelor said. "Something like a high-powered assault rifle would have made a grievous injury."
Shelor said the bullet may have passed completely through Michalczyk, who was taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where he was treated and released.
Michalczyk, who police said was staying in Safety Harbor, could not be reached for comment.
After the shooting, the golf course at 1345 Court St. was closed for the remainder of the weekend. It opened Monday to few players.
"(The shooting) didn't kill the man, but it sure killed the business," said Bill Hayes, co-founder of Glen Oaks. "Business is off course but that's not a big deal."
The par-3 course, which was also home to a branch of the Chi Chi Rodriguez Foundation's golf program since 1980, will probably open back up to youth golfers Wednesday. The program serves at-risk youths referred by the courts and puts them to work on the grounds.
"I'm more aggravated that we can't take the kids to a safe haven," Hayes said. "How do you explain that to a 5-year-old?"