Gainesville man charged with attempted murder after victim says misfire saved his life
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gregory Raynard Curtis III, 19, was arrested today on a warrant for attempted first-degree murder and domestic aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly firing at a man who was with his ex-girlfriend; after the gun reportedly misfired while aimed at the male victim’s head, Curtis allegedly shot at both victims as they ran.
Just after midnight on June 12, Gainesville Police Department officers responded to calls about gunshots in the area of Centric on 34th Apartments (3415 SW 39th Blvd).
Curtis’ ex-girlfriend and a man were reportedly sitting in the back seat of the man’s parked vehicle when Curtis allegedly ran toward the vehicle, opened the back door where the woman was seated, and pointed a gun at the two occupants, shouting “various expletives.”
The man reportedly jumped into the driver’s seat of the vehicle, and Curtis allegedly pointed the gun at his head; the victim said he heard an audible “click” as Curtis pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire.
The victims said Curtis began trying to clear the gun, and they ran from the vehicle. They said Curtis fired multiple shots toward them as they ran, and then Curtis left the area. The male victim told officers that he was in fear for his life and believed Curtis was trying to kill him.
Officers reportedly found three spent shell casings in the area, and the man’s vehicle had two bullet impacts.
Curtis has no local adult criminal history. Prosecutors indicated on the warrant for his arrest that they intend to file a motion 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.Â
A tale as old as times. Love, lust, jealousy all played out in a real life stage. It’s too bad that many of these young adults won’t live long enough to realize that that drama that was so intense in your teens ends up being a blip in the radar of your life later on. So important when going through it, yet so insignificant once you mature….these kids needs jobs and a purpose to keep their minds on fruitful pursuits. As they say, idle hands are the devil’s playthings.
His posture and hair demonstrate a ‘hood mentality. Probably would thrive some education, too.
Another once-luxury student apt. complex forced to change its name in Google results… again 🤡👺👿👹ACLUSPLCDNC
I agree. The apartment name change game keeps the incoming freshmen mommies and daddies from diving too far into the history of the complex. Purposefully misleading newcomers. Although I have seen the Polos and Melrose change back to their original names.
No bail. Looks like he’s going to have opportunities for more ex-girlfriends.
Stupid choices seem to get you deserved prizes.
Why not attack them with a knife? They were in an enclosed space, so it would have been easy enough, and knives don’t misfire or make a lot of racket. After all, I’ve been told it’s the violent person and not the weapon choice that determines the outcome. I guess a gun was more accessible.
Your whole comment doesnt make sense. If the guy would have had a butter knife, baseball bat, a screwdriver, hammer, or anything else in his hand he still would have made the choice to attempt to harm the victims. Sometimes people are that stupid. It has nothing to do with what he had or didnt have in his hand at the time he intended to kill them according to the charges. Stop blaming behavior on non living objects and except that sometimes people will harm someone no matter what.
Your whole comment doesn’t make sense. I didn’t blame the object. I blamed the violence. I just noted that a gun must have been more accessible than any of the other objects that could have been used to kill. Quit deflecting and ignoring that guns are far too accessible.
You are so silly. Stop guns of any form don’t kill people. You want to tell me a person can open a kitchen drawer and find a gun, but not a knife.
You name yourself “Think About IT,” so think about it: Why did this guy bring a gun, when he could have opened a kitchen drawer and pulled out a knife as you suggest? Call me silly if you want, but that’s just an ad hominem deflecting from a legitimate question that you still haven’t answered. The answer is simple: violent people use guns to commit violent crimes because guns require next to no effort to be deadly and because guns are easily accessible.
Don’t worry. I’m not trying to take your guns away. I’m all for your second amendment right to bring your rifle to a tank fight should your government turn on you. But how close is the gun violence going to have to get to you before you realize that you are not Quickdraw McGraw and that there is a problem?
You can’t just demand that the government keep people from being violent, and vigilante justice just foments more violence. Can you point to even a dozen instances in which guns were used to prevent crimes, during the same time span in which guns were used to commit a hundred crimes? Or a thousand? This nation’s addiction to guns is like the alcoholic’s addiction to alcohol: people know there’s a problem, but they’re convinced they can keep up the behavior and the problem will go away on its own.
Moderation is key, yet you will have none of it.
Your claim has no merit, since the mainstream media won’t print the times the perpetrator is stopped by the victim’s possession of a gun, whether it is used or not. There is a political reason the gov’t agencies don’t track that info; it doesn’t fit the left’s anti gun agenda.
No. A knife is cheaper and far more accessible than a gun. This guy has a gun because it’s more powerful than a knife. These kinds of people know that you don’t bring a knife to a gun fight. It’s not an accessibility issue.
Mr Curtis has no respect for anyone but himself. He needs to spend a few dozen years in jail.
Thank you for ruling out the argument that knives and other alternatives aren’t as deadly as guns. Now how exactly do you imagine a man like Mr. Curtis, who I guess you would agree shouldn’t have access to a gun, or any one of the dozens of felons arrested with guns in this area alone this year, could have managed to get access to these guns? You don’t consider that an accessibility issue? Shouldn’t something as deadly as a gun be better secured than a knife?
If it was as simple as keeping guns out of the wrong hands, then theoretically, yes. But the reality is that criminals like Curtis will always have access to guns, but laws aiming to make guns less prevalent have a disproportionate effect on law abiding citizens. Unfortunately, a guy like Curtis, who obviously planned for trouble will still have a gun.
I noticed that he is under 21. It’s already illegal for him to carry a hand gun without the supervision of an over 21 adult. Clearly, he isn’t bothered by the law. I’m afraid the best solution for guys like him is to lock him up away from society.
I think this is going to go in circles. I’d like to keep guns out of the hands of supposedly responsible people losing or loophole-selling their guns to the criminals who are supposed to be unable to get guns any other way. We were better off with sticks and knives, but we just had to find more efficient ways to kill each other.
Lmao poor guy was butthurt his old lady had moved on and found the back seat of another man’s car to sit in. Hopefully this POS will have ALOT of time to think about the life’s he tried to take.
Ol Raynard going to spend sometime in lockup. Good time for him to meet and mingle with his new cell mates. New bffs.
Just another example of a culture that embraces violence. He needs some serious time in a jail cell.
That girl is mines own!!!! 😜
I’ll bussah cap in yo a#@! My Ni&#a!
Another district 1 ballistics expert. Why didn’t he sell his malfunctioning firearm to the gun buyback fiasco?