HAINES CITY, Fla. — Polk County Sheriff's Deputies say they were forced to open fire during a domestic incident on Carl Boozer Road in Haines City Saturday evening.
A witness driving by saw two women screaming and fighting in the front seats of a minivan that was parked on the side of the road. That witness called 911 after hearing the victim, 47-year-old Wendy Schutte, scream that the other woman, her 76-year-old mother Linda Wages, was going to shoot her.
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Deputies arrived on scene around 5 p.m. The mother and daughter continued to fight and scream, ignoring deputies' commands to stop. Deputies say Wages ducked out of sight and then came back up, causing the deputy to shoot out of fear for the life of Schutte and himself.
Wages suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to a nearby hospital, where she is currently being treated.
Deputies say Schutte displayed injuries consistent with being battered. She told deputies they were going to a Winn-Dixie in Davenport when she pulled over to compose herself following a family dispute that happened at their shared home.
Schutte said her mother began hitting her, pulling her hair and biting her before saying she had a gun in her bag. Wages told her daughter she would "end it all" if she "didn't stop blubbering," according to the sheriff's office.
Authorities say Schutte took her mother's bag and placed it under her left leg near the driver's side door. Deputies say that is the bag Wages was reaching for during the struggle.
Following the incident, deputies did not find a gun in the bag or in the van.
Wages is charges with battery - domestic violence and aggravated assault - domestic violence. She will be booked into the Polk County Jail when she is released from the hospital.
The sheriff's office says the responding deputy is on paid administrative leave per standard protocol.
