A Flagler County man has been charged with shooting his neighbor's cows, according to the 7th Circuit State Attorney's Office.
Justin DeLoach, 23, was charged Tuesday with shooting six cows, a second-degree felony.
DeLoach told the Flagler County Sheriff's Office that the cows broke into his property on Catherine Street and were eating his horse feed when he shot them last month, according to the charging affidavit.
The neighbor told deputies that he went outside his house around 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 to check on some nearby gunfire when he noticed that his cows were missing and that his property gate was open.
The neighbor then noticed some cows walking toward him from another property and they were bleeding from multiple "holes." He then contacted another neighbor, who informed him that DeLoach had shot the cows and that they had appeared to be grazing on DeLoach's property but were not causing harm.
The following day, DeLoach gave deputies a written statement saying the cows "busted" past his fence and onto his land and ate all of the feed for his horses, according to the charging affidavit. DeLoach said he tried to chase the cows off but that didn't work, so he grabbed his shotgun and fired into the air to scare the cows.
Two of the cows suffered severe injuries to their faces, and the remaining four cows were shot in the rump, ribs and shoulder.
