Man Shoots Neighbor After Mistaking Him for Bear Near Chicken Coop, Deputies Say

A Florida man who believed a bear was prowling around his backyard chicken coop allegedly fired blindly into the darkness—only to discover the following morning that he had shot and killed his next-door neighbor.

Ariel Gonzalez Rodriguez, 25, was arrested Tuesday and charged with manslaughter with a firearm in the March death of 30-year-old Jason Sheffield in Naples.

According to investigators, Rodriguez was asleep on his couch around midnight when his wife awakened him after hearing noises near the family’s chicken coop and other backyard animals.

Rodriguez reportedly went outside carrying a .22-caliber rifle and fired several warning shots into the ground. When the noises continued, he returned to the house, exchanged the smaller weapon for a more powerful .30-06 rifle and went back outside.

Although it was too dark to see what was making the noise, Rodriguez allegedly raised the rifle to approximately waist level and fired toward the neighboring property.

The sound immediately stopped.

Rodriguez told investigators that he feared he might have wounded a bear and did not want to risk being attacked, so he went back inside and decided to investigate after sunrise.

At approximately 8 a.m., Rodriguez searched the area around his chicken coop and then walked onto Sheffield’s property. He found his neighbor lying facedown in an overgrown area with blood on the back of his shirt.

Rodriguez then called 911.

Investigators wrote that he was frantic and told the dispatcher he had fired at what he believed was a bear but now feared that he had accidentally killed his neighbor.

An autopsy determined that Sheffield died from a large-caliber gunshot wound to the back. His death was ruled a homicide.

Rodriguez reportedly told detectives that there had been no dispute between the two men. In fact, their families had been grilling together in Sheffield’s backyard only hours before the shooting. Rodriguez showed investigators a photograph from the gathering in which Sheffield was reportedly wearing the same clothing in which he was later found.

After a four-month investigation, Collier County detectives concluded that Rodriguez had acted with “reckless disregard” by firing a lethal weapon at an unidentified target in the direction of an occupied neighboring property.

Rodriguez’s attorney emphasized that the charge remains an allegation and that his client is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Sheffield left behind a wife and four children. His obituary remembered him as a gifted guitarist, singer and songwriter whose music was an important part of his family’s life.

Rodriguez was being held without bond and is scheduled for upcoming court appearances in August.

Sources: ABC News and Law & Crime