Gainesville man arrested for holding roommate at gunpoint

Staff report

Updated with criminal history on April 1.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Muhammad Kishta, 26, was arrested this morning after allegedly holding his roommate at gunpoint while demanding that he “confess to his god, Muhammad.”

The responding Gainesville Police Department officer reported that he had spoken to Kishta earlier in the day, when Kishta called 911 and said he needed to speak with a law enforcement officer in person. The officer responded to an apartment at Windsor Park (3705 SW 27th St.), where Kishta reportedly said he is being watched and listened to by cameras and computers. The officer reported that Kishta kept talking about philosopher stones and curses, and he asked the officer to arrest him so that he could be under law enforcement protection and be sent off to the military.

The officer asked a co-responder (mental health) team to go speak with Kishta, but before the co-responder team arrived, a witness called 911 to say that she heard an argument in the apartment next to hers. She said she could hear a man saying, “I don’t want to pull the trigger, I’m not here to pull the trigger.” She said she did not hear another voice inside the apartment, but she heard the man say, “Shut the f*** up.”

The officer returned to the apartment with the co-responder team, and he reported that he could hear Kishta yelling from inside the apartment; when an officer knocked on Kishta’s front door, Kishta reportedly opened the door with a gun in his hand. Officers drew their guns, and Kishta reportedly put his gun down and began ranting about the government and Chinese citizens who were taking over the world.

After Kishta was arrested, officers discovered that his roommate was sitting in the living room. The roommate said he had been in his bedroom sleeping when Kishta knocked on his door. When he opened the bedroom door, Kishta allegedly pointed a gun at him and moved him into the living room at gunpoint. The victim said Kishta made him sit down on the couch and told him that he needed to confess to his god, Muhammad; he also said “something about science.” The victim said Kishta threatened to shoot him.

Kishta reportedly told the officer that he does not have any mental health diagnoses, but the officer, believing him to be a threat to others, referred him for emergency mental health services under the Baker Act.

Kishta has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping. He has no criminal history in Florida, but he has an unspecified criminal history in Illinois from 2018. Judge Adam Lee ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.