{"id":237498,"date":"2026-04-19T02:15:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T02:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/237498\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T02:15:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T02:15:13","slug":"florida-homeless-man-tries-to-shoot-dog-attacking-woman-but-shoots-owner-to-death-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/237498\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida homeless man tries to shoot dog attacking woman, but shoots owner to death instead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A homeless Florida man allegedly attempted to shoot a large dog attacking a woman \u2014 but tragically missed and blasted the animal\u2019s owner to death instead, officials said<\/p>\n<p>Matthew Lee Pasco, 34, then allegedly fled the scene on foot and is considered armed and dangerous, the Lake County Sheriff\u2019s Office said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a gunshot wound now,\u201d a man can be heard saying in a frantic 911 call as gunshots and screaming can be heard in the background.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.76757813;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39131008\" width=\"453\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/lake-county-sheriffs-office-issued-125942934.jpg\" alt=\"Mugshot of Matthew Lee Pasco.\" class=\"wp-image-39131008\"  \/>Matthew Lee Pasco is allegedly on the run after fatally shooting a man.  Lake County Sheriff\u0092s Office<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe boyfriend or the baby daddy of the girl was going to go shoot the dog and the owner jumped in front of it,\u201d a man can be heard telling 911. <\/p>\n<p>The shooting happened near a homeless camp in Leesburg, Florida, where Pasco allegedly frequented. <\/p>\n<p>The dog owner was pronounced dead at the hospital, and the woman was also hospitalized and treated for multiple dog bites. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50146628;display:block\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39131007\" width=\"886\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/manhunt-underway-lake-county-fatal-125944320.jpg\" alt=\"Matthew Lee Pasco.\" class=\"wp-image-39131007\"  \/>Police are asking the public for help finding him.  FOX 13<\/p>\n<p>The alleged shooter was described as a 150 pound 5\u201911\u201d white male with brown hair and brown eyes with a prominent scar on the right side of his face. He was last seen wearing a Navy blue T- shirt.<\/p>\n<p>Nearby Carver Middle School was sent into lockdown after the shooting, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/news\/local\/2026\/04\/17\/man-sought-after-deadly-shooting-near-leesburg-homeless-camp-deputies-say\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">News 6 reported. <\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI also heard the gunshot. Just hearing the shot \u2014 you don\u2019t know where it\u2019s coming from. It could be over here or over there,\u201d a nearby homeowner told the outlet. <\/p>\n<p>Police officials warned the public not to approach Pasco should they see him, and asked for help finding the perp. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnyone with information on Pasco\u2019s whereabouts can notify the Lake County Sheriff\u2019s Office via phone at 352-343-2101 or email, tips@lcso.org, or Crimeline 1-800-423-TIPS,\u201d the Lake County Sheriff\u2019s Office said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A homeless Florida man allegedly attempted to shoot a large dog attacking a woman \u2014 but tragically missed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1550,28,30,3475,29,6889,4278],"class_list":{"0":"post-237498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-dogs","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-florida-headlines","11":"tag-florida-man","12":"tag-florida-news","13":"tag-shootings","14":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}