Key West Man Arrested for Shooting Rooster at Bayview Park

Gregory Wayne Tolan, 66, of Key West turned himself in to the Monroe County Detention Center last Friday after a cellphone video showing him shoot a rooster at Bayview Park spread across social media and ignited a swift public backlash. The Key West Police Department secured an arrest warrant within five hours of the footage surfacing, a timeline that illustrates how decisively bystander video can accelerate a criminal investigation.

The video, first shared on Facebook on the morning of March 27, showed Tolan "walking away from the writhing bird holding a rifle," according to language used in the Key West Police Department's own Facebook post on the incident. Officers tracked Tolan to the park at 1320 Truman Ave. through a chain of witness accounts: a bystander who observed Tolan moving through an adjacent neighborhood with the rifle later encountered a second individual who identified him by name. Police obtained the warrant the same afternoon, and Tolan surrendered shortly after learning of it. He was booked at the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island and held on a $25,000 bond.

Investigators also documented reports that Tolan had been shooting at chickens roosting in trees near the park, broadening the scope of conduct under review. Under Florida Statute 828.12, an intentional act that results in the cruel death of an animal constitutes aggravated animal cruelty, a third-degree felony carrying a fine of up to $10,000. A basic animal-cruelty charge, for unnecessarily killing an animal, is a first-degree misdemeanor with a fine up to $5,000. Separately, Key West's own municipal code, established by City Commission Ordinance 04-13 in 2004, explicitly protects the city's feral chickens as part of Key West's "unique historic, cultural and community identity," with violations subject to additional misdemeanor exposure at the city level.

Discharging a firearm inside a public park in a densely used neighborhood like the one surrounding Bayview Park raises its own legal questions independent of the animal-cruelty statutes. The park sits near downtown and draws steady foot traffic from families, dog walkers, and tourists, making the incident particularly alarming to residents who use the space daily.

The $25,000 bond, steep for a standard misdemeanor, reflects the potential for prosecutors to pursue the felony tier of the animal-cruelty statute, though formal charges and arraignment timing will be set once the Key West Police Department and Monroe County prosecutors complete their evidentiary submissions. The Monroe County Clerk of Courts will assign a case number and schedule initial court dates as the case moves forward.

Anyone who witnessed the shooting or recorded additional footage is urged to contact the Key West Police Department or the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. The rapid arrest here was driven almost entirely by a single bystander's video and the community's willingness to share it.