Man with rifle fires 2 shots across commercial fisherman’s bow off Florida Keys, cops say

An argument between a recreational angler and a commercial fisherman off the Florida Keys nearly turned fatal Tuesday morning when the angler fired a rifle across the bow of the other man’s boat, police said.

The incident happened around 9 a.m. on the oceanside of the Keys, about seven miles off Rodriguez Key, which is east of Key Largo, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the lead investigating agency.

Arielle Cellender, an FWC spokeswoman, said the two men’s vessels were close to each other when they began arguing.

George Webster Dixon, 77, who lives in Key Largo, pulled out the rifle and fired it twice in the direction of the other boat, Callender said.

Both FWC officers and a Coast Guard crew from Station Islamorada were called out to the scene before arresting Dixon.

Both bullets hit the water and no one was injured, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric Rodriguez, a Coast Guard spokesman.

According to Monroe County jail records, Dixon was being held on no bond on felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and firing a weapon.