Florida – A Florida man was taken into custody and charged following a shooting that severeIy injured his prgnant girIfriend and endangered her unborn chiId, according to law enforcement. The suspect, 44-year-old E. Paterson, was taken into custody by the Sheriff’s Office after he allegedly brought the woman to the hospital and fled the scene.
Detectives said the victim — who was eight months pregnant — was sleeping in bed with two of her children when the defendant allegedly opened fire, striking her in the beIIy area. The buIIet also struck her unborn chiId. Medical staff at the emergency room performed emergency surgery on the woman. The baby was delivered and airlifted to another hospital for urgent surgery.
Investigators described how, after dropping the woman at the emergency room around 5:17 a.m. last week, he fled the hospital and did not immediately cooperate with police. Detectives identified him as a fifteen-time convicted felon and secured an arrest warrant within days.
On Wednesday he was taken into custody and now faces a battery of serious charges, including aggravated battery with a deadIy weapon on a pregnant female, tampering with physical evidence, firearm possession as a feIon, shooting within or into a building, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and two counts of child neglect.
Witnesses’ statements contributed to investigators’ understanding of what happened. According to a motion obtained by media, he allegedly retrieved a small‑caliber firearm while the victim was lying in bed inside their apartment and discharged it. The discharge left a bloodstained sheet and a hole in the bedding surrounded by what appeared to be firearm burn residue.
Police say the injuries are consistent with a gunshot fired at very close range. The bullet is alleged to have passed through the woman’s abdomen and into that of her unborn child. Their 9-year-old child told police she woke up to a loud noise and saw her dad apologizing to her mom, repeatedly saying, “I’m sorry, it was an accident,” as the woman held her beIIy and cried. The couple share four children together.
