Palm Beach County, Florida

From the Thibodaux (LA) Daily Comet of February 13, 2007

Teen shot, charged, after breaking into classmate's home

A 17-year-old boy was recovering Tuesday from a gunshot to the chest after he tried to break into the home of a classmate who had allegedly been spreading rumors about his girlfriend, authorities said.

Daniel Scott Merkel has been charged with burglary and criminal mischief and is in custody as he recovers at Delray Medical Center.

"I'm just happy he's alive," the boy's mother, Mary Merkel, said Monday.

Ricardo Collier III, 44, who shot Merkel early Sunday morning, has not been charged with a crime. Investigators said he was defending his home under Florida's Castle Doctrine law, which allows the use of deadly force if there is a "reasonable fear of imminent peril."

According to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office report, the teen was banging on the Colliers' front door. Ricardo Collier called 911 and told the 6-foot, 215-pound high school wrestler to leave. Merkel then charged at the door and broke inside, the report stated.

He lunged at Collier, who shot Merkel in the chest, according to the report.

The junior at Palm Beach Central High School had apparently come looking for Collier's son, Ricardo Collier IV, who Merkel thought had been spreading rumors about his girlfriend.

Merkel's family and attorney dispute Collier's account of the shooting.

"This was not a burglar that they didn't know coming through the window in the middle of the night," said Charlotte Danciu, Merkel's attorney and aunt. "He might have expected to address his girlfriend's honor but he never expected Ricardo's father to shoot him."

The elder Ricardo Collier's brother, Charles, said his brother was simply defending his home.

"He was trying to save his family," Charles Collier said. "Who knocks down a door over a girlfriend? That's not a balanced person."