Elderly Golfer Opens Fire On Man For Walking His Dog On Course, Assaults Victim With Club

An elderly golfer allegedly shot a man and assaulted him with a club for walking his dog on the golf course in Delray Beach, Florida on Sunday, April 24.

The accused, identified as Robert Levine, originally from New York and now living in Florida, is facing charges of attempted murder after confronting 64-year-old Herbert Merrit at the Kings Point golf course in Delray Beach on Sunday, April 24, New York Post reported.

After Levine spotted Merritt walking his dog close to the course grounds, the suspect reportedly sped his vehicle up to catch up with the victim. Seeing Levine approach him with a handgun, Merritt took off running and tried to take cover behind a tree in the golf course.

However, Levine began to chase him on foot and shot several rounds at him. Merritt was eventually struck in the ankle and went down near the 15th hole. After opening fire on the victim, Levine then allegedly returned to his golf cart and retrieved a club. He proceeded to approach the injured Merritt and began clobbering him with the golf club.

Law enforcement was alerted about the incident after a witness saw the chaos unfold from his balcony overlooking the course and called the police. The witness stated that he saw Levine kick Merritt in the head at one point during the assault.

Another woman said that she was relaxing in her bed when she heard the gunfire pop near the rear of her residence. When she came out to see what was going on, she claimed that she saw Levine firing at Merritt. The witness said that she also saw Levine bashing his victim with a club in one hand and the firearm in the other, WPBF reported.

When the responding officers arrived, they found Merritt lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to his left ankle and Levine standing over the victim on the course with four 9mm shell casings nearby. Merritt told the investigating officers that he had never seen Levine before. He said that he did nothing to provoke him and “he felt that Levine was trying to kill him.”

Following the incident, Merritt was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Levine, who suffered an unrelated medical episode at the scene, was also taken in for evaluation.