Spurned proposal leads to charge of attempted murder
LAKE WORTH — A suburban Lake Worth man is accused of firing 12 rounds into a mobile home in Lake Worth on Friday night while his ex-girlfriend and her male friend were inside, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office.
Gordon Kovie, 48, is facing charges of attempted murder and firearm possession by a felon in the shooting, which took place in the Palm Beach Mobile Home Park north of Lake Worth Road west of Interstate 95. He is being held without bail at the Palm Beach County Jail.
Deputies responded to the shooting just before 10:45 p.m. Friday and said in a report that they found several bullet holes in the residence and .45-caliber shell casings outside it.
Investigators say that security-camera footage from a business across the street from the mobile home shows Kovie shooting at the residence. Kovie’s ex-girlfriend also told Palm Beach County sheriff ’s deputies that she saw him and another man banging on the door through a live-stream video camera outside her friend’s mobile home and then heard gunshots, according to a police report.
The woman said she and Kovie were a couple about five years ago but had broken up. The day before the shooting, however, he had bought her a dress and a wedding ring, wanting her to marry him, and had even pushed the ring onto her finger, according to a sheriff ’s report.
Police say the ex-girlfriend told them that Kovie texted her several times that day and also showed up to the friend’s house four times. His first text sought the return of the dress and the ring. A later text read in part: “Don’t ever threaten me with cops I will do something (expletive) crazy go ahead and try me.”
Officers say that Kovie told them that he went to the friend’s house once to speak with his ex-girlfriend but never returned. Kovie and another man told police they were at a bar together at the time of the shooting. Each provided investigators with a DNA sample.
Deputies said in their report that they questioned the manager of the bar the Kovie claimed to be at and that the manager did not recognize Kovie’s photograph. Surveillance-camera footage also does not show Kovie or the other man at the bar, according to the sheriff’s report.