An incident in Apopka has led to the arrest of a local man, Charles Vega-Guzman, after he reportedly shot at his neighbors in a heated argument turned violent. WESH reported that the confrontation over loud music culminated on Sunday, identifying the assailant as a 34-year-old resident who allegedly fired multiple rounds at neighbor Matthew Howard, who claimed to be just inches from death.
Despite nobody being hurt, Howard highlighted the close call by pointing out bullet holes in the screen of his patio. "If I was an inch in any other direction if either of us were... we could be seriously hurt on dead" Howard said, per WESH. The Apopka Police Department has detained Vega-Guzman, who originally attempted to claim that he fired his gun into the air and later, into the ground, only to supposedly scare his neighbors.
Further details highlighted by FOX 35 Orlando state that the incident occurred on East Myrtle Street after an altercation involving Vega-Guzman's mother. The police found evidence consistent with the shooting, bullet strikes on the wall and screened porch, which ostensibly contradicted Vega-Guzman's account of firing into the ground.
The situation was exacerbated as the victims revealed past threats by Vega-Guzman, including one with a machete, though they had not reported them previously. Vega-Guzman's mother reportedly has also described her son and neighbors as always being very argumentative and claimed that during the incident, her son fired shots into the ground. After the altercation, Vega-Guzman was identified by one of the victims and subsequently arrested, with the police recovering the firearm used within a backpack and other weapons from inside their home.
