A DeLeon Springs man in his late 30s and two friends he works with (a man and a woman who’ve been dating for about a month or two) were hanging out outside the DeLeon Springs man’s house early in the morning, all of them drinking alcoholic beverages. For some reason, the other male (whom I’ll call Lancelot) referred to the woman (whom I’ll call Guenevere) as a “slut,” which offended the host (also known as King of the House), who told his friend not to call her that. (Chivalry is not dead!)

According to King of the House, Lancelot “became enraged and began smashing the windows and windshields of all the vehicles parked on [the] property.”

King went into his apartment, picked up his Glock semiautomatic handgun, put two rounds in a magazine, loaded the magazine into the Glock, and came outside. He would later claim Lancelot came toward him aggressively, holding an ashtray, and that he therefore shot his friend once in each leg. He said he aimed for the legs so he wouldn’t kill his friend. (With a friend like this, who needs enemies?)

Guenevere put Lancelot in her vehicle and drove him to a hospital. King called the Volusia Sheriff’s Office and told them what had transpired. Deputies interviewed him at his home, while other deputies tried to talk with Lancelot and Guenevere, who were at the hospital.

Lancelot said, “I don’t want to talk to law enforcement I need medical attention I’m not saying anything until I get help.”

One of the deputies had Guenevere complete “a sworn written statement detailing as much of the incident as she remembered.” She said the three friends, who work together, had been “chilling” at King’s house since about 11 p.m. the night before. Lancelot “said something to make [the King] mad unintentionally and an argument ensued.”

Guenevere said she and Lancelot decided to leave, but Lancelot and King“exchanged more words.” Guenevere said King went inside, came out with the handgun, and shot Lance in the legs. Then, she said, King “stood over [Lancelot] and pistol whipped him in the head several times while [Lancelot] yelled for him to stop.”

In the emergency department at the hospital, Lancelot “spontaneously uttered [in front of another deputy] that he was shot twice and ‘pistol whipped’ to the back of the head.”

He then told the deputy he didn’t want to talk with him anymore.

Lancelot told a Sheriff’s Office detective “he did not want to pursue criminal charges and did not want to speak with detectives. [Lancelot] asked several times if he was going to jail and indicated he was familiar with the ‘stand your ground’ law and feels [King of the House] is going to use that as his defense.”

Guenevere told the detective that Lancelot “told [King] he was going outside to have sex with [Guenevere],” and the King was offended. She said she and Lance were “outside by her car,” and King of the House went into his house and got his handgun.

She said “everything happened so fast she couldn’t recall seeing [Lancelot] get shot.” She also saw King hitting Lance while he was on the ground, but because “it was dark … she couldn’t see clearly.

The King was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery with a firearm. Whether he will use a “stand your ground” defense (or a King of My Castle defense) remains to be seen.