BRADENTON, Fla. — A New Year's Eve that should have been filled with celebration turned into a terrifying ordeal for a Bradenton family when investigators said a woman walking her dog was stalked and nearly abducted, leading to a fatal self-defense shooting.
The Manatee County Sheriff's Office said a homeowner shot and killed 36-year-old Nicholas Palomo after he appeared to stalk the homeowner's wife and followed her home in the Mill Creek neighborhood in Bradenton.
WATCH: Neighbors shaken up after attempted kidnapping leads to deadly self-defense shooting
"We come to learn later that he's actually videotaping her as she's trying to get back to her house. She's frantic," said Randy Warren, spokesperson for the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
The incident began when the woman was walking her dog and noticed Palomo stalking her. She ran home and told her husband, who called 911. Warren says the husband was still on the phone with dispatchers when he fired the fatal shot.
"When he comes out, the guy is sitting on top of the car. At this point, he's gotten out of the car. He's taken his shirt off, continuing to be very threatening in his behavior, gets off the car and is coming at the homeowner when he fires the shot," Warren said.
John Dawson, who has lived in the Mill Creek neighborhood for about 20 years, woke up to police lights in the area overnight on New Year's Eve.
"I guess around 12:30 or so, my wife kind of shakes me and says, 'something's going on, something's going on.' And she's standing up in the bed looking out the transit window, which looks out at the driveway over here. And there's all these lights flashing. We had the street blocked off in the front, the street blocked off in the back," Dawson said.
Authorities determined this was a random act of violence, which has left neighbors unsettled.
"It was kind of weird because it's a random thing that you'd never expect to happen, especially in a quiet neighborhood like this. And, you know, I don't feel insecure or anything like that, but it's kind of like, I don't know where this guy came from or what the problem may be," Dawson said.
Warren revealed that Palomo had a violent criminal history related to false imprisonment, burglary with a deadly weapon and grand theft auto.
"He had spent time in prison for kidnapping and spent most of his life behind bars," Warren said.
The State Attorney's Office has ruled this a self-defense case, and no one is facing charges.
Tampa Bay 28 tried talking with the homeowners, but they declined to comment on the incident.
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