Florida Man Shoots Pizza Restaurant Patron for Complaining About Slow Service, Tells Police He Was Standing His Ground
When 49-year-old Randall White of St. Petersburg, Florida, walked in to a local Little Caesars and ordered a thin-crust vegetable pizza he didn't expect to end up getting shot in the stomach by another customer.
But that's precisely what police say happened this past Sunday.
According to police spokesman Mike Puetz, White and fellow pizza shop patron Michael Jock, 52, got into an argument after White began loudly complaining that his 10-minute pie was 10 minutes overdue.
Words turned to shoving and shoving turned to Jock's legally concealed .38 Taurus Ultralight Special Revolver getting pulled out.
Jock allegedly shot White in the lower torso, and then once more in the same area after he and White started wrestling for control of the weapon.
The gun fired another bullet which became lodged in the restaurant's wall. Two other customers were reportedly in the area at the time.
After police arrived, Jock immediately claimed he was "in his rights" to fire his gun per Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law which allows for the use of deadly force in life-threatening situations.
A police investigation determined that Jock and White's altercation "did not reach a level where deadly force was required," according to Puetz.
Jock was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a weapon and shooting within a building. He was booked into jail but released a short time later after bonding out on $20,000.
White was released from Bayfront Medical Center after being treated for his injuries, though he says a bullet fragment remains lodged in his back.
"There are arguments every day, but how many people pull out a gun? When you pull a gun out and shoot somebody, your life better be in danger," he told the Tampa Bay Times. "He was in my face and I pushed him. His life was not being threatened."
