Drunken Walton County shooting puts neighbors at risk

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. (WTVY) - A Walton County man was arrested just after midnight on Saturday after his alleged drunken shooting nearly resulted in a sleeping neighbor being struck by the gunfire.

According to arrest reports from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded just before midnight on August 25 to a home on Willie B. Parker Road in DeFuniak Springs after a call about an argument and gunshots being heard. Upon arrival, deputies witnessed a shirtless man standing on the porch of the home as he fired two shots from a revolver handgun.

After firing off the two shots and with deputies now in tactical position, the man went into the home. A short time later, the man, identified as 26-year-old Randall Holley, once again exited the home, and at that point he was arrested. Deputies said that while arresting Holley, he claimed multiple times he was extremely intoxicated, and also reportedly gave false identifying information, which he said was also due to being drunk.

According to reports, Holley said he got into an argument with his wife, and to release his emotions he shot multiple times at a tree on the property, only stopping once he realized law enforcement had arrived at which point he went inside and placed the gun aside. Authorities retrieved the firearm later after Holley’s wife allowed them into the home to do so.

While investigating the incident further, it was discovered that one of the rounds fired off by Holley had missed the tree and struck a home across the street. Deputies found the bullet lodged in a closet door around three or four feet above the head of a neighbor asleep in her bed in the room.

Further findings also reveal that prior to law enforcement arriving, two other neighbors heard the argument and attempted to intervene, resulting in Holley pointing the gun at them and threatening to kill them.

For the incident, Holley was charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Shooting a Missile into an Occupied Dwelling, Using a Firearm Under the Influence of Alcohol and Discharging a Firearm in Public.

Holley was booked into the Walton County Jail, and later released on a $5,000 bond.

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