Two men shot and killed after an argument about ice cream

A sweet treat ends in a bitter and deadly argument between roommates. Police say this 69-year-old man shot and killed two other men during an argument over ice cream. Marie Edinger, live in Ocala now. Marie, the chief called this a ridiculous situation. Yeah, Jack, police were first called out around 4 p.m. yesterday because neighbors reported that argument. It turned out to be Mark Robinson accusing his two roommates of eating his ice cream. But police thought that was all resolved. So they left and the other two roommates went on a walk. About an hour later, police say they got another 911 call, this time about gunfire. Hard to believe that this happened over something so minor. It's incredible. Police say Mark Robinson told them the ice cream argument wasn't the first he's had with his roommates recently. He said one roommate, Charles Athees, had been, quote, causing disturbances and failing to pay rent, and that he'd called police several times over the past few weeks. He didn't say much about his other tenant, Michael Manx. I think the best way to describe this, and even Even from an anecdotal perspective, quite frankly, this was a... Robinson turned himself in and talked with police after the shooting. Here's his version of the story. He says he was drunk, about a bottle and a half of wine in. When Athees and Manx were out on their daily walk, Robinson told police he grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun and brought it to the living room because he, quote, felt like there was going to be trouble. That's when Robinson claims the two, quote, rushed at him. Athees, he said, had a knife in his hand, so he shot him. He says Athees fell to the ground but tried to get back up and run away, so Robinson says he shot him again. He says Manx was running out of the house, but Robinson claims he was still fearful of Manx would come after him, so he shot him in the back as he ran away. We're looking at the self-defense notion that he's put forward, but we've got a lot more work to do in examining the evidence and more interviews to do before we dive into that. We tried to learn more about these roommates. Police say neighbors have complained about Robinson before. It's clear that That the homeowner, quite frankly, was an angry old man that had some alcohol problems and could get nasty with not only his neighbors, but his tenants as well. He's been cantankerous in the neighborhood, to say the least. But one neighbor told me that isn't the experience she's had. She said Robinson has always been nice to their family, bringing over handmade chairs and baked goods. If he was 69 years old, Manx was 78, police say this is the third shooting in this area in just this year. Fox 35 has been here for each one of them, but police say this is not a trend. It's not indicative of a larger issue. They say they're all random, unconnected, and this is still one of the safest areas in town. That being said, they are still going to have extra patrols out just to make sure the people in the neighborhood feel a little bit more comfortable moving forward. Live in Ocala, Marie Edinger. Fox 35 News.