Charge dropped in shooting death of aspiring meteorologist

HOLLY HILL, Fla. - A friend of an aspiring meteorologist shot to death under mysterious circumstances has had a misdemeanor gun charge against him dropped, reports CBS affiliate WKMG.

Jacob Eldred, 26, initially faced a charge of improper exhibition of a firearm in connection with the death of 22-year-old Timothy Englehardt, who was found suffering from a gunshot wound to the head Sept. 13, 2014 at a home in Holly Hill, Fla., and later died. Authorities received a phone call at around 6:15 that night reporting "an attempted suicide and a gun shot fired."

Four people were in the home at the time of the shooting, besides Englehardt, police said. One of them told police that Englehardt had been "upset" and was making "suicidal statements" before putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger.

In a recording of the 911 call, a female is heard telling the emergency operator how her friend shot himself. A frantic male is heard in the background screaming at times.

The caller, later identified as Stephanie Lauber, said she thought the gun wasn't loaded at the time.

"My friend is upset because he feels responsible for it," Lauber told the operator.

"It is his gun," she said.

The male is then heard in the background saying something inaudible.

"No you didn't, you didn't kill him," Lauber responded.

The family of Englehardt, who was a senior at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, told 48 Hours' Crimesider in November their son would never commit suicide. His father, Bill Englehardt, said his son had spoken with his grandmother 40 minutes before the shooting and asked her to buy him a plane ticket so he could come home to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving.

The police incident report says Englehardt was found dead on the front porch of the home with a firearm nowhere within his reach.

In December, the Holly Hill Police Department issued a statement saying Eldred would be charged with improper exhibition of a firearm, a first degree misdemeanor, but according to WKMG, the Florida State Attorney's Office now says they are declining to pursue that charge.

In its decision to charge Eldred, police said he and Lauber were on the porch with Englehardt when the shooting took place.

They said Eldred was holding the gun when Englehardt began making suicidal statements and then grabbed the barrel of the gun, pulled it towards his head. That's when the weapon fired.

Still holding the gun, police said Eldred placed it on a nearby coffee table and left the room with Lauber, who called 911.