Today's egregious Florida gun crime comes to you from Port St. Joe, where police say 59-year-old Walton Henry Butler shot a man in the head last night, then sat down and ate dinner while the victim lay bleeding at his door. Police say he was upset because "he had only shot a nigger."
The victim, 32-year-old Everett Gant, had gone to Butler's apartment to confront him about calling a child a "nigger" and making "several racial remarks to the black children in the apartment complex," according to the police report. Butler allegedly responded by shooting him in the face with a .22-caliber rifle.
The rest can be best explained by the probable-cause affidavit from the Gulf County Sheriff's Office (We also put the cover page online, if you're curious):
After Walt Butler shot Everett Gant he stated he shut the sliding glass door with Everett Gant lying outside the door, called 911 then funished cooking supper, sat at the kitchen table and began eating.When Sheriff Nugent arrived on scene he made contact with Butler by phone. Butler told him to come in he was eating dinner and had put up the gun. Butler was sitting at the table and acted as if it was an inconvenienced [sic] when he was asked to stand up and handcuffs were put on. He said he did not understand the problem he had only shot a nigger.
Charming, Mr. Butler. That will be a charge of attempted murder with a hate-crime enhancement for you, sir.
As for Gant, he's in stable condition and expected to survive.
