Georgia man killed by lightning on Florida beach

By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A 40-year-old Stockbridge man was struck and killed by lightning as he and his family tried to escape a Gulf Coast beach as a storm was blowing in, according to the Gulf County Sheriff's Office.

David Eugene Lee, his wife and their two children were vacationing at St. Joe Beach on the Florida Panhandle Sunday afternoon. When they saw gathering storm clouds, the Lee family collected their belongs and started leaving, the sheriff's office said Tuesday.

Lee's wife heard thunder and turned around to find her husband collapsed in the sand, according to the police report.

Bystanders performed CPR on Lee, but  he was pronounced dead later at Port St. Joe hospital.