PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A 6-year-old boy called 911 Sunday night to report a fight between his aunt and uncle that involved shots fired, deputies said.
The incident occurred just before 8 p.m. in the 5570 block of Kumquat Road.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the fight occurred at the child's grandmother's house. The 911 dispatcher said when the boy called they could hear a loud altercation occurring along with a man in the background screaming, "I'm going to kill her!"
As deputies responded to the scene, they said a female victim also called 911 to report a member of her family had a gun and fired the weapon, possibly three times, as she was driving away from the home.
Deputies said when they got to the home, the suspect, Davidson Dulcio, 24, fled the residence on foot.
The affidavit said that deputies found two spent shell casings in the driveway.
The female victim told deputies that she lived at the home with Dulcio and other members of their family.
She said there had been a verbal dispute inside the home with Dulcio about cooking and drinking wine. The victim said Dulcio had "anger issues and a lot of hate for her."
The altercation intensified and another family member attempted to separate them. The victim told deputies she tried to leave the home but had forgotten her keys. The affidavit said Dulcio continued to follow her around, tormenting her verbally and then physically, shoving her against a wall and slapping her.
The woman said she finally got out of the home and was walking to her vehicle but Dulcio followed her outside.
While they continued to yell at each other in the driveway, she said Dulcio pulled out a handgun and pointed it at her face.
The same family member intervened again, allowing the woman to get inside her vehicle and leave.
However, the affidavit said as she was driving away, she heard possibly three gunshots, prompting her to call 911.
Deputies also interviewed the 6-year-old boy about the incident, saying he saw his "Uncle Davidson" with a handgun outside in the driveway shooting the weapon.
The affidavit also said that the child told deputies that he saw his "Uncle Davidson" point the gun in the direction of a stop sign, which would have been the same direction as the victim's fleeing vehicle. The boy said he saw his uncle fire two rounds.
Investigators also said video from a neighbor's Ring doorbell camera showed the victim leaving the residence in her car with the distinct sounds of two gunshots.
Dulcio was arrested Wednesday and faces multiple charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Jail records show he is being held at the main Palm Beach County jail on a $40,000 bond.
Child counselor calls boy's actions 'really brave'
The boy's grandfather tells WPTV he does not live at the home where the shooting occurred and was just visiting. He also said the child is doing pretty well after the incident and was at school Friday.
Dominika Nolan, the director of education and prevention services at the Center for Child Counseling in Palm Beach County, praised the boy's ability to know what to do.
"It's really brave of the 6-year-old to make that call and just to know where to call and reach out to ask for help for sure and to see that resilience," Nolan said. "He knew what to do. He knew he wanted to save and help someone."
Nolan said experiences like this can leave a big impact on a child, so community members need to recognize when a child goes through trauma and how to help.
"Some of the symptoms in children that we see when they experience trauma can be that shock, denial, disbelief," Nolan said. "It's not just what happens to the child but what happens to someone significant to the child. The child can really regress. We can see some new behaviors — anxiety, fear, it's also been shown through aggression and behavior difficulties, defiance. Something else we see in kids is a lot of disassociation. And disassociation is really what happens to our body experiencing traumatic events. It's just our body trying to protect us."
She added this experience can shape the child's development.
"The adversity and trauma can really shape the child's developing brain, so really the younger the child is, the more impactful that can be on them and how they view the world and portray themselves," Nolan said.
She would like to see everyone in the community "trauma aware" and "trauma-informed" so they are able to recognize the signs and symptoms when a child needs help.
The Center for Child Counseling has several resources for families on its website:
Click here to learn more about trauma-informed care training.
Click here for tips on how to talk to your kids about traumatic experiences.
