Deputies: Heavily armed Cocoa man fires shotgun during domestic violence investigation

COCOA, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A heavily armed Cocoa man accidentally fired a round from his shotgun at the same time deputies were coming to arrest him, according to his arrest report.

Wednesday night, around 7 p.m., deputies with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office say 50-year-old William Baldwin, of Cocoa, was violent and heavily armed at his home on Calamondin Avenue. He allegedly hit his wife in the head with the end of his shotgun and threatened to shoot his son.

According to his arrest report, his son called 911 and told the dispatcher his father was armed and “acting crazy.”

Armed deputies and K9 units responded to the home and began searching for the suspect, but Sheriff's Office spokesperson Tod Goodyear says the suspect hid behind a tree and accidentally fired a round from his shotgun as a deputy approached the home.

Hours later, Baldwin surrendered peacefully deputies, which was captured on the Sheriff’s STAR helicopter. Once in custody, Goodyear says Baldwin had numerous rounds of ammunition for a single-barrel shotgun and a handgun.

A judge on Thursday gave Baldwin a bond over a quarter-million dollars and ordered him to surrender all his firearms and stay away from his home. Baldwin is charged with aggravated assault and battery with a firearm during domestic violence, as well as displaying a firearm during a felony.