ACSO arrests Ocala man connected with park shooting

An Ocala man was arrested Monday morning as a person of interest in the Sunday fatal shooting of a Gainesville man at Cynthia Chestnut Park.

According to an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) release, deputies located a gold BMW sedan that was stolen from the scene of Sunday’s fatal shooting of Johnny Walker, 44, of Gainesville.

On Monday around 10 a.m., the ACSO received information from the Ocala Police Department that the BMW was seen traveling north on US Highway 441. With assistance from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, ACSO deputies began staging along US 441 to locate the stolen vehicle.

At 10:16 a.m., ACSO deputies spotted the vehicle traveling north at the 13300 block of US 441 and attempted to conduct a traffic stop. The vehicle refused to stop and detectives had to perform a precision immobilization technique (P.I.T.) to stop the BMW and successfully took the driver into custody.

The driver was identified as Javon Barclay, 28, of Ocala. Barclay was treated at a local hospital with minor injuries and transported to the Alachua County Jail. Barclay was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement and driving with a suspended license. He also has an outstanding warrant in Marion County for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.  

Barclay has not been charged with the murder of Walker, but ACSO detectives consider him a person of interest.

The shooting took place around 6:43 p.m. on Sunday in the parking lot of Cynthia Chestnut Park (2315 SE 35^th St.) when a caller reported that a male victim appeared to be lying in the parking lot and not moving. The victim sustained life-threatening injuries and was transported to UF Health Trauma Center where he was pronounced deceased. He was later identified as Gainesville resident Johnny Walker.

In interviewing potential witnesses, it was discovered that Walker’s gold BMW sedan was missing from the scene, leading to the search for the vehicle. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact the ACSO Combined Communications Center at 352-955-1818 to speak with a member of our Criminal Investigations Division. Callers wanting to remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest by calling Crime Stoppers at 372-STOP (7867).