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Police: Pine Island man dies after being hit in head with butt of rifle; LCSO investigate

By Staff

A St. James City man who was struck with the butt of a rifle, allegedly by a man he had pointed the gun at and threatened to shoot, was pronounced dead Tuesday at the Cape Coral Hospital.

Christopher Young, 35, was found unconscious by Lee County deputies on the floor of his home, at 5290 Western Drive, with blood coming from his head and near his right hand, deputies reported.

Young was airlifted to Lee Memorial Hospital and later declared dead at Cape Coral Hospital at 2:52 p.m., approximately an hour after the alleged incident was reported to the sheriff’s office.

The identity of the man who reportedly struck Young with the rifle butt was redacted from a police incident report, which indicates Young, the undisclosed person and two other men were together at a bar prior to the altercation.

Young reportedly left the bar and went to his home where he lived with one of the individuals. The remaining three individuals left together to return to Young’s home, according to reports.

When one of the men opened Young’s door, Young reportedly pointed the rifle at him and said he would shoot everyone. The man told police he felt threatened by Young, punched him and grabbed the rifle from his hand, then struck Young with it.

Young lost consciousness and the man threw the rifle over a fence, leaving the residence with the two other men to call police, he reportedly said.

Deputies recovered the rifle, which had a broken butt with blood on it.

One of the men told police he witnessed the altercation and that Young was armed with a rifle.

It was unclear if there would be an arrest in the incident as the investigation continued Wednesday.