PALM BAY, Fla. – A Palm Bay man arrested Tuesday is accused of shooting one of his relatives in the face after becoming upset over how often the relative visited him, according to police.
Palm Bay police responded that evening to a home in the 1600 block of Hawkbill Street NW when a 911 caller said her father-in-law had just shot her husband in the head, according to 84-year-old William Nowak’s probable-cause affidavit.
The victim was taken to the hospital and was sedated due to injuries, the affidavit states, adding the bullet that struck him had fragmented and lodged in his face and jaw.
Nowak — who police said was hospitalized as well, for high blood pressure — was described as living at the home with his 85-year-old wife and their disabled 62-year-old daughter. Nowak reportedly took care for them both, as his wife had been placed on in-home hospice care, police said.
When the victim and his wife had come to visit Nowak on Tuesday, the victim’s wife told police that Nowak began to express how upset he was that they hadn’t visited over the weekend, according to the affidavit. The remarks became an argument between Nowak and the victim, with Nowak at one point allegedly saying, “Get out of my house or I’m going to shoot you,” the affidavit states.
While saying that, Nowak allegedly walked into his bedroom, grabbed a firearm, and walked past the victim’s wife back to the kitchen as she followed him and told him to put the gun down. After returning to the kitchen, Nowak pointed the gun at the victim and shot him in the face before walking back toward the bedroom and returning without the gun, the victim’s wife told police.
According to the affidavit, Nowak then said something to the effect of “What just happened?” and began crying and screaming.
Nowak faces a charge of attempted murder, records show. At his first appearance in court Thursday, a judge appointed Nowak a public defender and ruled he would be held on no bond.