Authorities said that on Friday, a deputy in north Florida was arrested for manslaughter after telling investigators he accidentally killed his girlfriend when cleaning his gun.
Ocala Police said that officers responded to Leslie Boileau’s home in Marion County late Thursday night and found the woman dead with a gunshot to her forehead. A 9mm handgun was also on her lap. The scene also contained a rifle.
Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken stated that the Ocala Police Department works with the State Attorney’s Office to serve justice.
Boileau informed officers that the shooting took place while he was handling the guns and firing them dry. Boileau, after being arrested, told detectives he accidentally fired a loaded cartridge while demonstrating how to use a rifle. The woman was killed.
Police said that a search warrant executed in Boileau’s house corroborated the police report. The name of the girlfriend was not immediately released by officials.
Boileau has been arrested and charged with murder. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer. His booking was not recorded in online jail records, nor did his case appear on the website of the county clerk’s courts Friday.
Boileau, who had worked for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office for eight years, was fired immediately. Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods stated in a press release that his office supports the Ocala Police Department.
Woods stated that “tens of thousands” of officers in law enforcement do a commendable job every day. Woods said, “But unfortunately the tragic actions committed by one officer are felt throughout the entire law enforcement profession.”
