The incident in which a man who shot a neighbor in the buttocks last week was ignited by feeding squirrels with peanuts - a way for him to commune with his deceased parents.

The Daily Camera reports Jon Marc Barbour posted a letter in the Boulder County neighborhood, which is dated May 8, thanking neighbors who have supported him feeding the squirrels.

"Firstly, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to those who have supported me in my communing with the spirits of my deceased parents for the last year," Barbour's letter read. "My parents were great animal lovers and have shown themselves to me through the squirrels in the area."

Barbour signed the note as "The Squirrel Guy" Jon Marc Barbour; the original letter was sent to the Daily Camera and then confirmed to be real by other neighborhood residents.

Barbour's letter continues to call out the "haters" in the neighborhood who have called police and animal control on him.

"Given the current toxic atmosphere created by these few individuals, Susan [Barbour's wife] and I can no longer continue to enjoy the park that we pay monthly fees to support," he said. "If there is any continued harassment, slander, bullying or character assassination of myself or my partner it will be handled through appropriate civil and/or criminal processes."

Neighbors tell the Daily Camera that Barbour would leave "pounds of peanuts" for the squirrels around the Willowbrook neighborhood, raising concerns for children with nut allergies.

The letter was posted prior to a dispute which ended in Barbour shooting neighbor Jeffrey Browning in the buttocks while he was walking his dog. Barbour told deputies Browning hit him in the head, then shooting him while they were on the ground struggling. Browning, on the other hand, says he was walking away from Barbour and was shot at about a 10 foot distance.

Barbour was arrested but has since been released on $50,000 bond and had to surrender his firearms as a condition of his release. He is also not allowed to live in the Willowbrook neighborhood, as doing so would put him in too close proximity to the victim and witnesses, the Daily Camera reports.

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