An Illinois man doing yard work outside his home was fatally shot in the head by his 79-year-old next-door neighbour this month after the two got into an argument over the man's leaf blower, authorities said this week.
The shooting in Antioch, Illinois, is among several recent high-profile incidents of people being shot while doing mundane, everyday actions, from ringing a doorbell to pulling into a driveway.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office responded on April 12 to a report of an unresponsive man on a driveway in Antioch, an unincorporated village near the Wisconsin border that's about 60 miles (97km) outside of Chicago, authorities said in a news release. When they arrived after 7.30pm, deputies found the homeowner, William Martys, 59, with a gunshot wound to the head. Martys was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The sheriff's office arrested Ettore Lacchei, Martys's neighbour, on Tuesday (local time) and charged him with murder after deputies found that the 79-year-old "had various perceived grievances with Martys." Lacchei took issue with Martys's noisy leaf blower and the two got into an argument, according to WBBM, a CBS affiliate in Chicago.
"While Martys was utilising a leaf blower in his yard, he was approached by Lacchei," the sheriff's office said. "Lacchei argued with Martys, and during the argument Lacchei shot Martys in the head."
Lacchei has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. If he is convicted, Lacchei faces between 20 years to life in prison, according to Illinois attorneys. It's unclear whether Lacchei has an attorney.
"Our condolences go out to the family and friends of William Martys, who was senselessly murdered," Lake County Sheriff John D. Idleburg said in a statement.
Jacquelyn Martys, the man's daughter, told The Washington Post in a text message that the family had no comment.
"We are trying to deal with the tremendous loss," she said.
The shooting comes at a time when seemingly random incidents in Missouri, New York and Texas have captured headlines, becoming a flash point in the debate over gun violence in America.
Ralph Yarl, a Black 16-year-old, was shot after he rang the doorbell of the wrong home in Kansas City, Missouri, as he was trying to pick up his siblings on April 13. Andrew D. Lester, an 84-year-old White man, is charged with felony assault and armed criminal action in a case that prosecutors and city officials say was racially motivated.
Kaylin Gillis, 20, was fatally shot after she and her friends accidentally pulled into the wrong driveway in Hebron, New York, while looking for a friend's house on April 15. Kevin Monahan, the 65-year-old homeowner, has been charged with second-degree murder.
Two teen cheerleaders were shot and one of them, 18-year-old Payton Washington, was critically injured after one girl mistakenly got into the wrong car in a grocery store parking lot in Elgin, Texas, on April 18. Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., 25, has been charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony.
A 6-year-old girl, Kinsley White, and her father were shot after a basketball rolled into a man's yard during a fourth incident, in Gastonia, North Carolina, on April 18, the family and neighbours told local broadcasters. Robert Louis Singletary, 24, turned himself in and has been charged with multiple counts, including attempted first-degree murder.
Authorities have not released many details surrounding the shooting in Illinois. But JR McCarty, who was a neighbour of Lacchei and William Martys, confirmed to local media that the two men had a history of conflict, including a previous instance in which Lacchei had pulled a gun on Martys.
"No one deserves anything like that, and it's just kind of crazy to think that someone can just break like that over just a simple argument that can be fixed just talking," McCarty told WLS, an ABC affiliate in Chicago.
The investigation into the deadly shooting over the leaf blower lasted more than two weeks before a search warrant was executed at Lacchei's home in Antioch on Tuesday, the sheriff's office said. After deputies retrieved the firearm near Lacchei's property line, he was arrested at his home without incident, authorities said.
more at link (I would post the whole thing, but it trips out when I try copy/pasting the rest);