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DELAND, Fla. - Volusia County deputies say a terrified Carolyn Reichle passed a note to staff at a DeLand animal hospital.
It said, "Call the cops. My boyfriend is threatening me. He has a gun. Please don't let him know!"
The woman's neighbor, Winsome Aiken, said it's unbelievable.
“It's really strange,” she said, “it's not supposed to be happening.”
Deputies say Reichle's boyfriend, Jeremy Floyd, beat her Wednesday, threatened her with a gun and kept her locked in their home for two days.
Friday afternoon, they say she convinced Floyd to let her take their dog to the vet.
They say Floyd went too, packing a loaded pistol.
When Reichle slipped the note to a staff member, police came in and arrested Floyd.
“I'm glad she was able to do that,” Aiken said. “That's a way out to get help.”
Floyd's been arrested more than a dozen times, going back to 2003.
Deputies say Floyd and Reichle struggled over the gun in their house and it went off, putting a bullet through a wall.
After they rescued her at the vet, Reichle was treated at the hospital for bruises, a black eye and a head wound.
“That is really crazy,” Aiken said.
Floyd faces a laundry list of charges, including domestic violence, aggravated assault with a firearm, false imprisonment, possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon and simple battery.
He's being held without bond.