Gainesville man arrested for shooting airsoft pistol at homeless man at Millhopper Plaza

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Scott Warren Hanna, 59, was arrested yesterday after allegedly shooting an airsoft-style pistol at a homeless man at Millhopper Plaza and intentionally backing his vehicle toward the man.

At about 8:25 p.m. on May 27, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to the area outside the Gainesville Smoke and Cigar Shop at Millhopper Plaza (4211 NW 16th Boulevard), where the victim said a man had verbally attacked him because he is homeless. As the argument progressed, the man walked to his truck and took out a pistol, yelled at the victim, pointed the pistol, and fired approximately eight shots at the victim. None of the projectiles hit the victim.

The victim said the man then walked back to his truck and prepared to drive away; when the victim tried to take a picture of the tag on the truck, the man backed up rapidly toward the victim, and the victim had to quickly jump out of the way to avoid being hit. The man then left the scene in his truck.

A witness told the officer that she saw the altercation and took a video with her phone; she said she saw the man shoot at the victim after yelling at him, and she ran inside a business, yelling, “He’s shooting!” She said it looked like the man had a real gun.

A second witness also said she saw a man shooting at the victim and saw the same man intentionally back up rapidly and almost hit the victim. She described the vehicle as a silver pickup truck with a “Mossy Oak” window graphic on the back window.

The officer reviewed surveillance video from Gainesville Smoke and Cigar Shop and reported that the man’s face could be seen clearly on the video, and the witness’s video showed the same man standing in front of that business, yelling at the victim and holding a gun. The surveillance video shows the man firing the gun multiple times before getting into a silver pickup truck that looks like a GMC Canyon. The victim said he is familiar with the man, who often patronizes the businesses in the plaza.

The officer searched law enforcement databases for vehicles matching the description and found a silver GMC Canyon with an address about a mile away from the plaza. The officer went to the address and found the truck, which had a “Real Tree” graphic on the back window (similar to the “Mossy Oak” graphic). The officer reported that the registered owner of the truck was the same man in the videos of the incident and that a black semi-automatic pistol was in plain view between the driver’s seat and the center console.

The officer spoke with Hanna, and post Miranda, Hanna reportedly said he was “maybe” at the plaza and “maybe” got into an argument with a “homeless mother******.” He said the gun is not a real gun and does not shoot real bullets.

The officer reported that the pistol was a gas-powered pistol that shoots 50 Cal metal balls capable of causing serious bodily injury.

Hanna has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He has no criminal convictions; 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.

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.