Gainesville man arrested for pointing gun at woman in McDonald’s parking lot

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gregory Ahmad Pettway, 25, was arrested early this morning for allegedly pointing a gun at a woman in a McDonald’s parking lot.

At about 11:20 p.m. on March 11, Gainesville Police Department officers responded to the McDonald’s on SW Archer Road (3826 SW 40th Blvd.), where two witnesses reportedly confronted a man after he entered the parking lot the wrong way. The man reportedly said, “I’ve got something for you” and walked back to his car; the female victim warned that he had a gun, and the victim and the two witnesses left in their vehicle.

The victim described the gun and said it had an extended magazine; she said the man started to raise it as if he were going to shoot her, and she said she was in fear that he would shoot her. She described him as a tall, slender black male wearing a ski mask, a COVID mask, a gray jacket, and “peach-colored” shoes.

A witness took a picture of the license plate on the man’s car, and about two hours later, officers found the vehicle at the intersection of SE 18th Street and Hawthorne Road and identified Pettway as the driver. When the officer approached, Pettway reportedly said he “knew what this is about.” The officer reported that Pettway was wearing black pants, light pink/beige shoes, and a white t-shirt; behind him in the vehicle, the officer saw a ski mask, a black COVID mask, and a gray sweater. Pettway reportedly said he wears this clothing to protect his identity while driving for DoorDash, and he said he was wearing the same clothes at McDonald’s.

Post Miranda, Pettway reportedly said he was at McDonald’s and got into an argument with two people who matched the descriptions of the two witnesses; he denied seeing anyone who matched the description of the female victim. He said the two witnesses approached him, and he was afraid they were going to jump him, so he went to his car, grabbed his phone, and held it as if it were a firearm. He said he was trying to scare the two witnesses by making them believe he had a gun and that he acted in self-defense because he was outnumbered and was arguing with three or four people.

When the officer asked why he had re-engaged with the two witnesses after going back to his car if he was afraid, Pettway reportedly said again that he acted in self-defense.

Pettway denied having a firearm in his car. He reportedly said he normally keeps a gun in his car, but he moved it to his bedroom this morning. He said he had not shot the firearm that day, but his hands might have traces of gunshot residue because he had handled the gun before leaving for work.

Pettway reportedly gave consent for a search of his vehicle, and the officer did not find a firearm in the vehicle.

Pettway has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He has one misdemeanor conviction for resisting an officer without violence after allegedly jumping into a car and trying to drive away while officers were investigating a firearm incident in Midtown in April 2025; at the time, he was on pre-trial release on domestic battery charges, but those charges were later dropped. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $60,000.

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.