A Volusia County father is behind bars, charged with shooting his son during a Father’s Day argument.

It happened around 6:30 p.m. Sunday inside the family’s home on the 600 block of Edward Street.

A former New Smyrna Beach high school athlete is recovering at the hospital right now.

That’s because 18-year-old Eugene Blackwell Jr. was shot by his father, Eugene Blackwell Sr., on Father’s Day.

The younger Blackwell was airlifted to Halifax Medical Center where he is being treated for multiple gunshot wounds.

Blackwell, 45, walked into a courtroom Monday filled with family members: his brothers on one side, his wife and her father, the teen's grandfather on another.

Blackwell is charged with attempted murder.

Sunday, he and his wife Wendy Blackwell were arguing when the former New Smyrna Beach high school weightlifter and football standout intervened.

"The disturbance continued and escalated to the point where Mr. Blackwell shot his son several times," said New Smyrna Beach police Sgt. Eugene Griffith.

The teen was shot in the elbow, right thigh, right hip and left side of his chest.

And witnesses say Blackwell continued shooting at his son while the teen fled to a neighbor's home.

Blackwell drove away but later turned himself in.

Blackwell's brother Alvin Blackwell asked that he be released on bond.

But the teen's grandfather, who drove overnight from South Carolina, told the judge to keep the 45-year-old locked up.

"I'm here to say that this is one of the most heinous things I've experienced," said a concerned Harry Mostert, who added this is not the first time Blackwell tried hurting his wife, and that the family is afraid of him.

Police said they have been called out to the family home on Edward street on several domestic dispute calls.

Police confiscated 13 firearms from the home, but the gun used to shoot his son has not been found.

Blackwell's daughter said her father has a violent past.

"Not in this extreme. You wouldn't think your own father...your own father..." Michelle Blackwell cried.

A spokesperson with Halifax Medical center said that as of Monday afternoon, the younger Blackwell is in satisfactory condition and recovering.