A dispute over loud noise led to an aggravated assault charge after a 76-year-old Ocala man allegedly pointed a handgun at his grandson and pulled the trigger.
Early in the morning on Friday, June 19, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a local residence in reference to a domestic disturbance. A male victim told the deputy that he was talking to a neighbor in the front yard when his grandfather, Matthew Alford Blunt, exited a shed on the property, according to the arrest report.
The victim alleged that Blunt pointed a gun at him because of the “loud” conversation he was having with the neighbor. According to the victim’s statement, he “heard the trigger pull on the gun,” but it did not discharge during the incident.
When deputies asked the victim if he was in fear for his life, he reportedly refused to answer.
The report mentioned that Blunt spontaneously told the deputy that he would “shoot the (expletive) out of (the victim and neighbor)” because they were “being loud,” according to the report.
Blunt allegedly denied pointing a gun at the victim and neighbor during the incident. He gave the deputy permission to search a shed on the property, where a Kel-Tec P3AT .380 caliber handgun was reportedly found “in plain view on a couch.”
The deputy noted in the report that the handgun’s magazine was loaded, though a round was not in the chamber.
After Blunt was advised of his Miranda rights, he allegedly reiterated that he would “shoot the victim and neighbor due to them being loud,” according to the report.
A criminal history search of Blunt revealed that he has no prior felony convictions.
Blunt was placed under arrest, booked into Marion County Jail, and released the following day after posting bond. He is being charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill.
Jail records show that Blunt is scheduled to appear in a Marion County courtroom at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, July 21.