Man shot on Okaloosa Island

[ASH]

From the Walton Sun today. Yikes.

Destin man shot at Boardwalk




May 28, 2009 - 2:04 PM


Okaloosa Sheriff's Office
OKALOOSA ISLAND -- The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office is investigating the shooting of a Destin man Wednesday night around 8:30 in The Boardwalk parking lot on Okaloosa Island.
Rion Hays Tilton, 22, of 529 Kelly Street in Destin was taken by Gulf Flight 1 air medical chopper to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola where he is in critical condition.
Witnesses in the area at the time report hearing a "pop" or a sharp cracking noise. One witness saw a dark-colored car slow down in the parking lot, open the door and push a man out to the ground. When they approached Tilton, he was unconscious, with an apparent wound to his head.
Anyone with any information on the shooting is asked to call the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office at 850-651-7400 or Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers at 850-863-TIPS.

 

[Lynnie]

Yikes! How is he doing? Do you know?

 

[Matt J]

They're just trying to one up the Emerald Grande.

 

[Will B]

One thing is for sure...
It wasn't a random act. My guess is that it was some sort of drug transaction gone bad.

 

[Lady D]

From the Walton Sun today. Yikes.

Destin man shot at Boardwalk




May 28, 2009 - 2:04 PM


Okaloosa Sheriff's Office
OKALOOSA ISLAND -- The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office is investigating the shooting of a Destin man Wednesday night around 8:30 in The Boardwalk parking lot on Okaloosa Island.
Rion Hays Tilton, 22, of 529 Kelly Street in Destin was taken by Gulf Flight 1 air medical chopper to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola where he is in critical condition.
Witnesses in the area at the time report hearing a "pop" or a sharp cracking noise. One witness saw a dark-colored car slow down in the parking lot, open the door and push a man out to the ground. When they approached Tilton, he was unconscious, with an apparent wound to his head.
Anyone with any information on the shooting is asked to call the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office at 850-651-7400 or Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers at 850-863-TIPS.

So sad. I hope the man is ok. We hear of this every day here. But you would not think of this occurring down there.

 

[ASH]

Still very little to report. The guy took two to the head and then was just dumped. Something stinks. They found the vehicle he was shot in and are digging for clues. It is unusual for the area. It happened in a hot spot for the younger crowds. Not someplace like Seaside or Alys Beach for what it's worth.

 

[ASH]

Man Shot On Okaloosa Island update

Gunshot victim comes out of coma; mom calls him 'Miracle boy'




June 4, 2009 - 11:50 AM

Daily News
DESTIN - While Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office investigators work what they call "promising leads," the victim of last week's shooting makes steady progress.
Rion Tilton, who is 22, was dumped out of a vehicle in the parking lot of The Boardwalk at around 8 p.m. last Wednesday with a gunshot wound to the head.
His mother, Joanne Orr, calls Rion her "Miracle Boy" and recounts all of the ways that he has already beaten the odds.
It's a miracle that he was dumped in the parking lot, where he was found by two doctors, rather than in the water or a less populated place. It's a miracle that he survived the helicopter ride to Baptist Hospital.
"The third miracle was that our son never got the swelling on the brain that they predicted he was going to get," said Orr, who lives in Destin. "The doctors can only say one thing, ‘It's God.'"
She said she initially asked a doctor what chance Rion had to make a full recovery and that he pinched his fingers very close together.
"But that's a chance, doctor, right?" she pressed him. "'That's a chance,' he said."
Doctors had warned that he might be brain-dead, a diagnosis Orr rejected from his earliest days in the hospital. Now, he is out of his coma and able to respond to simple commands, she said.
She said they have asked him to give a thumbs up on his right hand, and he has been able to do so.
He is officially still in critical condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
His mother said doctors had originally told her that he had been shot twice, but he was shot only once. That bullet shattered into bits and pieces, which are still in his brain.
Sheriff's Office Spokeswoman Michele Nicholson said investigators were going to the hospital Thursday to see him.
His mom is hoping that in the next few days he will be able to speak and tell investigators who shot him.
"It's not going to be long before Rion talks," Orr predicted. "I've never prayed before like I have since this happened."
People wanting to assist the family can drop off donations to Chick-Fil-A at 1063 U.S. Highway 98 in Destin. For more information contact General Manager Jennifer Alderman at 855-0649.

Incredible story developing here.