HILLIARD, Fla. — A woman shot her boyfriend in the face with a rifle while he was asleep in his truck Sunday morning in Hilliard, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper told the press at a conference Monday.
Leeper said the victim woke up to a sharp pain in his face and believed he had been shot. When he tried to find his girlfriend, identified as Amber Lynn Mencner, 33, he could not locate her.
He drove around the property in an attempt to find help and eventually found Mencner walking down a trail to a neighbor's house. He told her what happened and she ran inside and called 911.
The victim was airlifted to UF Health and survived his injuries.
Detectives were able to speak to the victim, who told them he suspected Mencner shot him, according to Leeper.
The victim told police that he and Mencner had been in an argument.
Leeper said when Mencner was questioned, she changed her story many times, but she eventually disclosed what had happened.
She told police that she and the victim got into an argument about a truck they had purchased together. She also later told police that the victim had battered her in the past.
She went to her neighbor's home to talk about the fight, and told the neighbor she was "going to kill him," Leeper said. The neighbor did not take her literally.
Mencner allegedly stole a .22 caliber rifle from the neighbor and took it home with her.
When Mencner went back to the house, she saw the victim sleeping in his car and was "disgusted." She then allegedly raised the rifle and shot him in the face, then hid it in the woods behind a tree.
When police asked Mencner what she would do if the victim died, she said she would "bury him in the backyard," because "no one cared about him and he would never be missed, or he would never be found."
She was arrested on charges of attempted murder, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and tampering with evidence.
If you are in an abusive relationship and need help in Nassau County, you can contact Micha's Place at 904-255-9979.
You can also call the Florida Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-500-1119.