86-year-old Waldo man arrested for allegedly shooting fellow party guest who tried to keep him from driving drunk

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Ernest Francis Dority, 86, of Waldo was arrested last night after allegedly shooting a man who wouldn’t give him his car keys after he had been drinking at a party.

According to the arrest report, Dority had been engaged in a verbal dispute after a party with a man who had taken his car keys in the belief that Dority was too intoxicated to drive. Dority reportedly left the party on foot and returned with a revolver, pulled it from a holster, and demanded his keys. He then allegedly fired one round, striking the victim in the face/head. Dority then left on foot and was detained by deputies a short time later. Deputies reported that he had an empty holster in his pocket when he was detained and that they found a revolver sitting on the passenger seat of his vehicle.

A witness told deputies that they saw Dority return to the party with a gun in his hand. That person made everyone else go inside, then they said they heard a gunshot and found the victim in the yard with a gunshot wound to the head. Witnesses told deputies that the victim did not have a gun.

Post Miranda, Dority reportedly admitted to shooting the victim from roughly six feet away but claimed that the victim had a gun in his hand and that he fired in self-defense.

Dority has been charged with attempted homicide and is being held on $500,000 bond.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.