‘All of a sudden, he started firing’: Florida golfer recalls being shot at multiple times

By Rachael Perry

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    JUPITER, Florida (WPBF) — One of the victims of a shooting at a golf club in Jupiter remembers feeling angry as a man opened fire on him and three others.

The shooting happened Tuesday evening at the Abacoa Golf Club in Jupiter. Officials with the Jupiter Police Department said Daniel Anthony Nobile, 27, was standing on the back patio of a home along Barbados Drive, shooting at four men whom he did not know.

Lee Wiltsey is one of those victims and explained to WPBF 25 News how the incident played out. Wiltsey said he was golfing with a group of guys from a league he recently joined, and while on hole three, one of the men noticed a man with a gun.

“Just before he started shooting, as he was drawing on us, one of the guys in the group said, ‘don’t point your gun at me’ … and then all of a sudden, he started firing,” Wiltsey said.

Jupiter man detained after opening fire at a golf courseJupiter man arrested and charged with attempted murder after opening fire at a golf course He said he didn’t notice the gun until the shots were coming at them.

“And then boom, boom, boom. Now, by the time I look up, I felt like I was looking right down the barrel of the gun,” he told WPBF.

As it was happening, Wiltsey said he thought it might have been a joke.

“Are you freaking kidding me? I mean, is this really happening? I really thought with all the stupid internet pranks you see nowadays, even when I saw the gun, until I saw dirt flap, I thought it was some kid playing a joke, let’s shoot blanks at these guys and video how they react or something like that,” he said.

According to the probable cause statement, officials with the JPD found five rounds of ammunition on the ground and a sixth bullet in a nearby tree.

Wiltsey said once he realized what was going on, he stood still and was fuming with anger.

“I was like, how dare you? We’ve done nothing to you. I mean, there’s absolutely no good reason for it. I mean, I was pissed. I was really mad. It didn’t really sink in until today what could have happened, what I should have done, what I didn’t do, all that stuff. I was just mad and I wanted to fight the guy, honestly,” Wiltsey said.

He said, thankfully, the shots stopped and no one was hurt. In the hours following the shooting, Wiltsey said he didn’t really process the extent of what he experienced until he received a text from his daughter.

“She’s 21 at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and she’s like, oh my god, Dad, I can’t believe you almost died,” Wiltsey said. “When people reacted towards me that way, then it really started to hit home how close it was.”

He said his daughter’s text made him look back at how he reacted to the shooting and what he would do differently.

“I thanked her for her kind words and just said how happy I was I still had time with her. She hadn’t gotten married, hadn’t had any kids yet. I get emotional and just … when I saw how it affected her from about 1500 miles away, I thought how stupid I was for just standing there because I could have easily just been dead,” he said.

Wiltsey said the shooting was somewhat of a reminder to him to be thankful for the life that he has.

“We’re so lucky in this country, just being in it, just being American, just being born in this country is a blessing, and so many people take it for granted, and it’s so sad that it’s got to take something like this for some of us to really realize it. I like to think I got a little bit of a grip on i,t but it will definitely wake you up,” he added.

Despite being the victim of a shooting, Wiltsey said this doesn’t change his feelings about guns but instead highlights what can happen when they get in the hands of the wrong person.

“Guns are legal and they should be, and the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun or a really pissed off good guy without a gun,” he said.

WPBF 25 News asked Wiltsey if he has any plans of returning to the golf course. He replied saying absolutely and he won’t let this stop him from living his life.

“I don’t live in fear. I’m going back to that course next Tuesday for our league, and fear is not going to run my life,” he said.

No one was struck by the bullets, and there were no injuries.

The golf course was evacuated, and Florida Atlantic University’s Jupiter campus, which is just across the street, posted a warning on social media advising of a possible active threat, telling students to “RUN, HIDE, FIGHT.”

The JPD surrounded the home of the suspect, Daniel Anthony Nobile, and eventually took him into custody.

Nobile has been charged with four counts of attempted murder. He is currently being held at the Palm Beach County Jail with no bond pending a psychological evaluation.

Investigators are still trying to determine a motive.

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