Gainesville man arrested for October shooting in Majestic Oaks

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – John Lee Willis Jr., 28, has been arrested on a warrant for shooting a man at Majestic Oaks in October 2025.

At about 9:16 p.m. on October 28, 2025, Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the Majestic Oaks Apartment Complex (5800 SW 20th Avenue), where several callers had reported an armed disturbance and possible car crash; deputies had responded to the same area about two hours before this incident, and that call was also about an armed disturbance involving the same individuals.

Deputies found a large crowd of people in front of one building, and they saw a “large hole” where a car had crashed into the building. A few minutes later, a call was received from a hospital, reporting that a victim had arrived with a gunshot wound.

The victim reportedly said he was shot at Majestic Oaks after driving to the complex with two other people so one of them could confront a woman about a previous incident. The victim said people started arguing, and the fight became physical when Willis got involved; Willis and one of the occupants of the victim’s vehicle got into a physical fight, but nobody was injured, and the victim and his companion started walking back to their vehicle.

The victim said that was when Willis came toward him, swinging his fist, and the victim tried to protect himself by grabbing Willis; he said they fought for about a minute, and then he got in his vehicle, saw Willis standing in front of him with a gun, and drove toward him. He said the vehicle hit Willis and the building, and he didn’t realize he had been shot until a friend saw blood on him.

The deputy reported that surveillance video and cell phone video from others at the scene corroborated the victim’s story; the deputy added that when the victim and his companion were walking back toward their vehicle, Willis can be seen reaching into his hoodie pocket, pulling out something black, and then swinging the black item at the victim’s head. The victim grabs Willis, a gunshot can be heard on the video, and a gun can be seen falling to the ground. The three men fight for about a minute and the victim and his companion get into the vehicle, and then Willis can be seen picking up the gun from the ground as the vehicle drives toward Willis.

One spent shell was found near the victim’s vehicle, and a witness eventually turned in a 9mm handgun to deputies at the scene.

The deputy noted that when Willis shot the victim, the victim was not doing anything criminal that would support a self-defense claim by Willis. Willis is also a convicted felon and cannot lawfully possess a firearm.

Willis has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He has juvenile convictions between 2009 and 2015 and two adult felony convictions; he has served one five-year state prison sentence and was released in 2023. Judge Meshon Rawls 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.