Father Shot Dead After Answering Facebook Ad For Dog

A Florida father was beaten and shot in front of his children after he answered an ad for a free puppy on Facebook. Christopher ‘Scott’ Bowman, 39, was shot in the chest at his family’s Jacksonville, Florida, home on June 7th.

Bowman was killed on Wednesday night inside his home during a physical altercation with the very man who claimed to be giving away a puppy in desperate need of a flea bath. Bowman’s fiancee, Chelsea Bowman, says their family wanted to get a dog, so they responded to a Facebook post from a man offering one free of charge.

The ad for the free puppy was placed on Facebook.  The social media app now has a new “market” section making buying, selling, and trading goods as easy as logging into your social media account. After Bowman decided he would adopt the puppy, the man giving it away made the drive to Bowman’s house. Speaking to Action News Jax, Chelsea Bowman (divorced from Christopher Bowman, with plans to remarry) says they told the stranger they would pick up the dog, but he allegedly insisted on coming to their house to drop off the puppy himself.

On that fateful Wednesday night, the couple and their children were home on Mcnaughton Drive when the Facebook user arrived to deliver their new puppy. Chelsea says that after the puppy was delivered to them, she offered the man who brought the dog a drink, which she says was customary for her, and a way for her to offer her thanks.  But that’s when things went horribly wrong.

“The dude takes his shoes off and he stays. And he doesn’t leave,” Chelsea tells the station. “And it’s making everybody uncomfortable,” Chelsea said the couple hinted it was time for the man to go because their kids had to go to sleep but he refused. The couple are the parents of two young children. They have a four-year-old son and an older daughter named Kinley. Chelsea recounted the events of the fateful night in an interview with Action News Jax.

“He gets very, very volatile, very, very drunk,” Chelsea Bowman said. “My husband (Scott) goes to use the bathroom, and he waits for him. He comes out, and he grabs him and he starts beating him. I mean grabs him, slams him down. Scott was not winning this fight at all.” Chelsea Bowman said her daughter told her she witnessed the man hold a gun to Scott’s head, and that’s when Scott was able to turn the gun on the man and shoot him in the arm. She said Scott started to run, but the man shot him in the chest. “[Daughter] Kinley was going ‘You shot my dad! You shot my dad!’” Chelsea Bowman said. “I said ‘Run! Go get help.’ I said ‘Baby, baby, please,’ trying to wake him up.”

“You shot my dad!” Did Facebook post lead to #Jacksonville man’s death at hands of stranger? NOW on CBS47: https://t.co/0ljGmJss6x pic.twitter.com/q6VGcenrrT

— ActionNewsJax (@ActionNewsJax) June 9, 2017

Jacksonville Sheriffs Office said that when officers arrived at the home, there was a man outside who told them he was involved in the shooting and he was detained for questioning. Chelsea Bowman said she and her children were also taken to JSO for questioning. She said she could hear the alleged gunman banging on the walls at JSO. “When we got interrogated downtown he was like a maniac,” Chelsea Bowman said. “He was banging on the walls, cussing. At one point they had to switch us from one room so we wouldn’t hear this maniac.”

JSO said Friday that the individuals involved in the shooting have been identified and that the investigation is ongoing. Chelsea Bowman said her husband was murdered and she wants the man charged. “I miss him. I just want him back,” she said. “I keep thinking it’s a horrible dream.”

Neighbor Jeff Wood said Scott Bowman was a good man and wouldn’t harm anyone. “He’s a gentle guy, wouldn’t hurt anybody. Scott was my friend. I loved that dude to death,” Wood said. Records show Scott Bowman was arrested for domestic battery twice but in both cases, the charges were dropped.

Details are still unfolding.