Stanley Pannaman, a 72-year-old Vietnam vet who uses a cane to walk, volunteers for a wildlife group in protecting sea turtle nests near Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida. The volunteers would make sure that no one bothers the nesting mothers or the babies, and they would help the babies get to the ocean once they hatch.
One night, an intoxicated man, identified as Michael Q. McAuliffe, caused chaos as he tried to destroy the nest of the turtles.
"He was saying things like, 'I hate sea turtles, I hate sea turtle people, you eff eff eff people are destroying my life, I hate you,'" Pannaman said, according to Sun Sentinel.
The 38-year-old man ran to a nearby nest while screaming, and he began to tear down the sticks surrounding the nest and kicked it. When warned that he is breaking the law, he punched a volunteer and then wrestled with Pannaman to get his gun, the New York Daily News reported.
McAuliffe thought he was holding a "flare gun" and tried to shoot Pannaman in the chest but the veteran spun to get out of the way and was hit at his hip.
Pannaman survived the gun shot while McAuliffe was jailed without bond on two charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and battery on a person 65 or older.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think monitoring sea turtle nests was going to be a life-threatening experience," Pannaman said.
