Florida Sheriff: 77-year-old shoots attacker outside vet clinic

A 77-year-old woman shot and fatally wounded a man who attacked her outside Macclenny Veterinary Hospital before dawn on October 5, according to the Baker County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said the confrontation occurred in the parking lot around 4:30 a.m. The man, identified as Alvin Tyrone Tisdale, 57, of Macclenny, was taken to UF Health in Jacksonville, where he died from his injuries, News4JAX reported.

Preliminary finding: self-defense

“At this time, the preliminary investigation indicates that the woman acted in self-defense during the incident,” the sheriff’s office said, according to Action News Jax.

The woman called 911 to report the shooting and cooperated with investigators, according to the reports reviewed. Her name had not been publicly released in those accounts.

Why she was there before dawn

Baker County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Dave Mancini told News4JAX the woman regularly volunteers to feed community cats at local businesses, which he said explained her early-morning presence outside the clinic.

What remains unknown

Authorities had not publicly established in the reports reviewed whether Tisdale carried a weapon, what firearm the woman used, or how many shots were fired. No arrests had been made in the follow-up reporting cited, and the investigation remained ongoing.

Attribution

Details in this article are attributed to statements from the Baker County Sheriff’s Office and local coverage by News4JAX and Action News Jax, as cited above.