http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090720/BREAKINGNEWS/90720001/1001/RSS
BRISTOL *—Bradley Harvell, 82, closed the Slip N’ Slide bar that is connected to his house on County Road 333 around 8 p.m. Sunday and walked inside his house an hour later. He ate some dinner dropped off by a neighbor and then went to bed.
Harvell said a short time later, he heard a knock at the door.
“There were two knocks at my door,” Harvell said. “I didn’t get up when I heard the first one. But I decided to go see who it was on the second knock.”
As Harvell cracked the door open to take a peek outside, a man dressed in a black T-shirt, black jeans with a blue bandanna covering his mouth, forced his way inside.
Harvell said the man, later identified as Octavius Barnes, 24, of Sanford, Fla., shot him with a stun gun, causing Harvell to fall back on his bed. The intruder then pulled out what appeared to be a black pistol and demanded money.
Harvell pulled out his money clip and gave the robber half of the cash. When pressed to give more, Harvell said he turned it all over.
But Harvell then reached for his .357 magnum among a pile of papers on the floor next to his bed and shot Barnes near the stomach. Barnes fell over on the TV, knocking it onto Harvell, who fired another round, striking Barnes in the head.
“I did what I did to try and save myself,” Harvell said Monday afternoon, after spending the night with his sister in Bristol. “I’m 82-years-old. I’ve made it this far, and I want to keep on living.”
The call came in about 9:20 p.m., according to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office. When a deputy arrived, with her weapon drawn, Harvell said he told her, “There’s no need for the gun. I don’t think he’s going to get up and do anything else.”
Lt. Brigham Shuler of the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office said the agency is investigating the possibility that someone drove Barnes to the house since there was no other car outside. Barnes, who was from Seminole County, was staying with family in Liberty County.
“We’re not sure if anyone else is involved with the robbery,” Shuler said. “That’s an investigation question that still needs to be answered.”
Deputies found the stun gun and the second weapon, which turned out to be a toy gun.
Shuler said the investigative report will be turned over to the State Attorney’s Office to decide if it should go before a grand jury for review.
Locals who know Harvell, a veteran who has lived in this rural community for years, believe that the situation is terrible, but that Harvell shot in self-defense.
“It’s a sad situation,” said Scott Kady, who has known Harvell for 30 years. “Police is limited and I think it’s sad that people have to resort to arming themselves. But I think he was in his right.”
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A man dressed as a ninja was shot and killed during a home-invasion robbery Sunday night, according to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office.
The man, whose name is not being released until next-of-kin are notified, forced his way into the home of Bradley Harvell, 82, that is attached to his bar the Slip and Slide at the intersection of CR 12 and CR 333 in Liberty County.
The invader demanded money after shocking Harvell with an electrical device called an ERD. Harvell retrieved money from his wallet which did not satisfy the robber and a scuffle ensued, according to Lt. Brigham Shuler, spokesperson for LCSO .
The robber turned around with what appeared to be a gun pointed at Harvell. Harvell, who also had a gun, shot the man dressed in black. When the man got back up and started toward Harvell, he shot the robber a second time in the head killing the invader.
The invader was transported to the morgue at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and an autopsy is scheduled today.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement Crime Scene Unit assisted LCSO on scene.
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