Man, 87, Shoots Goat and Other Man in Prunedale

An 87-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in Prunedale after he allegedly shot and wounded his neighbor and a goat on New Year's Day, a Monterey County sheriff's sergeant said.

Phillip Dexter, of Prunedale, was apparently trying to scare away animals by firing his shotgun at about 6:20 p.m. in a rural area in the 16700 block of Avery Lane, about a mile west of U.S. Highway 101, sheriff's Sgt. Mike Burns said.

But pellets from the shell fired from his Winchester Model 1912 pump-action shotgun wounded another man who lives nearby, Cesario Diaz, and one of Diaz's goats, sheriff's officials said.

Diaz was taken to Natividad Medical Center in Salinas with pellet wounds to his rib cage, right arm and right leg, Burns said. The wounds are not considered life-threatening.

The goat was hit by one pellet, according to the sheriff's office, but no details were available on its condition.

Dexter was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, discharging a firearm near an inhabited dwelling and cruelty to animals, Burns said.

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