Gainesville man charged with attempted homicide after allegedly shooting roommate’s hand

Staff report

Updated on June 19 with pre-trial detention information.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Al-Jareau Joseph Banks, 29, was arrested yesterday and charged with attempted homicide after allegedly shooting his roommate in the hand.

At about 5 p.m. on June 11, a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to a call about a man who had been shot; the victim was transported to a local hospital by EMS.

Banks and the victim are roommates in a four-bedroom apartment and said they’ve only known each other for a few months. The victim said he came home at about 4 p.m. with his girlfriend and greeted Banks, who immediately started arguing with him about missing food. The victim said that both he and Banks agreed to go outside and fight, but they didn’t end up fighting and went back inside the apartment.

The victim said that after they went back inside, he was standing in the dining room, his girlfriend was in the living room, and Banks was in the kitchen, and they were still arguing. The victim said he reached into his pocket for his keys, and Banks fired a shot at him, hitting his hand. The victim said he ran into his bedroom while Banks ran outside through the front door.

Post Miranda, Banks reportedly said that his canned Spam, macaroni, and other food items were missing, and when he confronted the victim, the victim unlocked a cabinet and showed him the food inside. He said they continued the argument, and the victim challenged him to go outside and fight; he said he went outside, but the victim never followed him. When he went back inside to the kitchen, the victim changed into shorts and entered the dining room area.

Banks reportedly said at first that he saw the victim pull a shiny silver object from his waistband, which he believed to be a knife, but he later changed his story and said he saw the victim pull out a silver firearm with ridges on the slide; he said the victim charged the firearm and held it at his side. He said he feared for his life, fired one shot, and tried to fire a second shot, but his gun jammed. He said he fled to a neighboring apartment and waited for officers to arrive.

The officer reported that at the time of his arrest, Banks had a handgun in a holster.

Inside the apartment, blood spatter reportedly led to the victim’s bedroom. The victim gave consent for a search of his bedroom, and officers reportedly found a black AR-15-style BB gun and a black-and-clear plastic BB gun with an orange barrel. Neither gun matched the description provided by Banks, and Banks reportedly said he had never seen the victim carry a knife or gun in the apartment. He said the victim had once bragged about firearms but had never produced one.

One roommate reportedly said he was in his bedroom and heard the argument before a period of silence, followed by a gunshot.

The victim’s girlfriend reportedly said she did not see what happened, but she heard the gunshot. She said she had never seen the victim carry a gun.

The officer wrote that probable cause existed to charge Banks with attempted homicide because there was no evidence that the victim had a gun and Banks admitted that he had tried to fire a second shot.

Banks has been charged with attempted first-degree homicide. He has no criminal convictions. Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial. On June 19, Judge Susanne Wilson Bullard granted the motion and ordered him held 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.