Suzette Cook
A Gainesville man is being held at the Alachua County Jail on two counts of attempted murder after a Sunday afternoon shooting incident in Newberry.
According to Alachua County Sheriff’s spokesperson Art Forgey, at about 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 10th, deputies responded to several 911 calls reporting shots fired and a person injured in the vicinity of Newberry’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Park located at 25515 NW 6th Avenue.
Upon arrival, they located two victims, Romell Thomas, III, 23, of Gainesville and Lovell Thomas, 19, of Gainesville. Both were suffering from gunshot wounds.
An investigation revealed that the two victims and the suspect Nashaun Stackhouse, 21, had a verbal altercation which led to the suspect retrieving a handgun and shooting the victims, according to Forgey.
“After the shooting the suspect fled on foot,” Forgey said. “The suspect was positively identified by one of the victims and a witness.”
Deputies then locked down a residence on SW 252 Terrace where Stackhouse’s mother lives, according to the incident report. But deputies soon discovered that Stackhouse and a possible accomplice fled that property. Another 911 call stated that two black males were seen trespassing on a citizen’s property just north of the incident location. The report states that Stackhouse was then seen running across NW State Road 45 near Newberry Lane.
A black Chevrolet Tahoe vehicle reportedly took part in the incident. According to the report, deputies stopped a vehicle matching the description in the parking lot of the Woodyard Grill restaurant.
The driver said she was not involved, and deputies searched her vehicle for the weapon used in the shootings. They found no firearms and released the driver.
At about 4:50 p.m., the ASO received another call for service from a resident on NW 8th Avenue stating that a window at the residence had been shot. The report states that the deputy observed a bullet hole in the kitchen window and that a bullet had also struck the refrigerator. Upon opening the freezer door, the bullet fell to the ground. The report states that this incident is under investigation and was possibly a retaliation for the park shootings.
Deputies were able to locate and arrest Nashaun T. Stackhouse, 21. He was charged with two counts of attempted murder and transported to the jail.
Stackhouse is being held on $500,000 bail.