Gainesville man charged with shooting victim in the back

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Elisha Isaiah Williams, 26, was arrested yesterday and charged with aggravated battery after allegedly shooting a man in the back during a child custody exchange.

At about 6:52 p.m. on January 17, Williams reportedly accompanied his girlfriend while she dropped off her child at the child’s father’s house. Williams had reportedly heard that the child’s father (the victim) had recently been “making passes at” his girlfriend, and when he and his girlfriend arrived at the victim’s house, Williams got out to confront the victim.

As the victim approached the back door of the car to retrieve the child, he and Williams had a brief verbal exchange, then Williams allegedly pulled a gun from his waistband and fired two shots at the victim, who had turned away. One bullet missed, and one bullet hit the victim in the lower back.

Williams reportedly walked toward the victim, who was now on the ground, but the victim’s family came running out of the house, and he got back in the car with his girlfriend and left.

18 minutes later, Williams reportedly called 911, saying he had shot the victim in self-defense. Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officers met him at a gas station and reportedly found a gun in his car. Williams and his girlfriend were transported to GPD Headquarters and interviewed separately.

Post Miranda, Williams reportedly agreed with the information reported above but said the victim had been “edgy” and kept making movements with his hands that led him to believe the victim had a gun in his waistband. He reportedly said he thought the victim was about to pull out a gun, so he ducked aside, pulled his gun out, and fired two shots at the victim because he was in fear for his life. However, he said he never actually saw a gun.

Williams reportedly asked the officer whether the victim had a gun and also asked whether the victim was hit by either of his shots; he said the incident happened very quickly, and after briefly advancing on the victim after shooting, he decided not to fire any more shots when the victim’s family came out of the house. When Williams was informed that the victim had been shot in the back, he “immediately became worried.”

Williams’ girlfriend reportedly said she had no idea Williams planned to confront the victim and did not anticipate any problems between the two men because they had dropped off the child many times before without any issues. She said the victim was making movements with his hands that indicated he might have a gun in his waistband, but she did not see a gun in his waistband or his hand at any point. She said she could not see Williams’ hands because his back was to her.

Officers collected surveillance camera video from the victim’s house, which showed the incident from a distance. The video reportedly showed the victim handing a gun to a family member after Williams had left, indicating that he did have a gun during the incident.

The victim was reportedly coherent when he was interviewed at the hospital. Post Miranda, he reportedly admitted he had a gun in his waistband but said he never took it out. He said he was walking toward the back door of the car when Williams got out of the car, which had never happened in previous child drop-offs. He said Williams seemed to have “something planned” and held his hands near his waistband; he said he was so focused on the possibility that Williams had a gun that he wasn’t even listening to him. He said he didn’t remember turning around when the gun came out and that everything happened very fast; he said he never had time to reach for his own gun.

Detectives and officers reportedly reviewed the surveillance video extensively, zooming it in and playing it frame-by-frame. The video reportedly showed that the victim and Williams were briefly face-to-face, then Williams’ right hand moved toward his waistband before the victim’s hands moved at all. The arrest report states, “This was freeze-framed, replayed, and reviewed several times and confirmed.”

The video reportedly showed Williams pulling his gun and moving to his right before the victim moved at all. Williams could be seen moving to his right, ducking down, and pointing his gun at the victim before the victim showed any reaction. At the moment of the first shot, the video reportedly showed that the victim had turned and was moving away from Williams.

GPD consulted with the State Attorney’s office before deciding to charge Williams with aggravated battery.

Williams has no local criminal history. Judge Tatum Davis set bail at $500,000.

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.