GROVELAND, Fla. — A Lake County woman told Channel 9 she had no choice but to shoot her husband after he came at her with a butcher knife.
The shooting happened Monday night at a home on Osprey Cove while the couple's two children, ages 5 and 9, were in the house at the time of the incident.
Shalom Toney told Channel 9 she is a victim of domestic violence and that her husband, Willie Toney, tried to attack her with a butcher knife.
She said she loves him, but he can be like "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
"I was, just tried to defend myself and I was trying to defend my family because he was acting like he was on some type of drugs or something, and I know that he was drinking," she said.
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Shalom Toney said he husband hit her, burned her and jumped on her back one time, which caused her to lose a child.
"He can be the sweetest person in the world and then that other side come out," she said.
Shalom Toney said her 10-year relationship with her husband was often violent.
"This is my eye, where he hit me in my eye," she told Barber, showing him bruises.
A neighbor called 911 after Willie Toney showed up at the door and said he had been stabbed, police said.
Groveland police said they found a knife at the scene, but later determined Willie Toney had been shot five times and not stabbed.
He was flown to Orlando Regional Medical Center where he is listed in stable condition.
Police said Shalome Toney fled the scene, but she returned about three hours later and was taken into custody.
Channel 9's Tim Barber learned Willie Toney has been arrested in the past for domestic violence, battery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
His wife also had an injunction against him a few years ago but that was dissolved nearly two years before Monday night's shooting.
Authorities said charges are pending in the case.
The children were not injured. They are staying with other family members.
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