A Summerfield man found himself behind bars Monday night after his man friend said he had been drinking and pointed a handgun at him.
The victim told Marion County sheriff’s deputies that he had gotten into a verbal altercation with 80-year-old Edwin Dee Keairns. He claimed that Keairns stepped out of his room holding a .38 Special revolver and pointed it at him, a sheriff’s report states.
The victim said he is “fed up” and wants Keairns to “get help.” He claimed that Keairns walked toward him with the revolver and pressed it into his stomach. He added that Keairns had his finger on the trigger and he “was in fear for his life,” the report says.
Deputies then made contact with Keairns, who was leaning against his truck. Deputies reported that he appeared intoxicated and had slurred speech. He told deputies he had consumed seven drinks and was “starting to feel numb,” the report says.
After being read his rights, Keairns said he had been in a verbal altercation with the victim and had gotten so mad that he got one of his guns and pointed it at him in an attempt to intimidate the man. He said he walked toward the victim but would never shoot him, the report says.
Keairns said the victim had disarmed him and then walked away. When asked if he had pointed the barrel of the revolver into the victim’s stomach, he said he walked toward him while pointing the handgun at him but didn’t touch him, the report says.
Keairns gave deputies permission to enter his truck, where they recovered two firearms. He identified the handgun used during the incident and then was placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail.
Keairns, who lives on SE 102nd Court Rd. in Summerfield, was charged with domestic aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He is being held on $5,000 bond and is due in court June 23 at 9 a.m.