Police: Boyfriend shoots girlfriend after dinner

GROVELAND, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A Lake County man is accused of shooting his girlfriend after they argued about her son not eating dinner.

Stephen Collins is being held at the Lake County Jail and is facing an attempted murder charge.

Deputies were called to the home on Mascotte Empire Road in Groveland Monday night.

“I heard four and they were loud, they shook the house,” a neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified, said about the gunshots. “I was talking to that 911 operator and I said, ‘Somebody needs to hurry.’”

Lake County deputies say Collins and his girlfriend were arguing because the child wouldn’t eat his dinner. Investigators say Collins ordered them out of the house and then followed with a gun.

“They got into the car, he came out after them with a gun in hand and he began to shoot through the window of the driver’s side where she was,” said Lake County Sheriff’s Sgt. Fred Jones.

Officials say the 32-year-old woman was hit and her son saw it all.

“He was just running around all scared and he didn’t know what to do,” recalled the neighbor.

Collins was arrested soon after and his girlfriend was airlifted to the hospital. We’re told she’s in critical but stable condition.

Investigators say Collins has claimed self-defense but they say that doesn’t match up with the evidence. They say he could face additional charges, including child endangerment.