Gainesville man sentenced to four years in prison for 2024 shooting at Pointe 12 Apartments

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Na-Jee Laquan Wright, 32, has been sentenced to two concurrent sentences of four years in state prison after entering a plea of nolo contendere to charges related to a February 2024 shooting at Pointe 12 Apartments (410 NE 11th Street).

At about 5:34 p.m. on February 21, 2024, Gainesville Police Department officers responded to a call about shots that were fired at an SUV. An officer reviewed video surveillance of the shooting and saw Wright standing in the parking lot of the apartment complex. As the SUV drove north on NE 11th Street, Wright pointed a gun at the SUV, then ran about 40 or 50 yards north and fired several shots toward the SUV. He then ran back toward his residence as the unidentified driver of the SUV returned fire.

An officer knocked on the door of Wright’s apartment, and Wright answered the door. The officer asked Wright if he’d heard any shots, and Wright said he’d heard some shots from inside his apartment. He said that when he went outside, he saw an SUV traveling northbound on NE 11th Street. Another officer saw a .380 Glock handgun in plain view of the driver’s side floorboard of a car parked near Wright’s apartment; Wright said the car belonged to his girlfriend.

On July 13, 2026, Wright entered a plea of nolo contendere to firing a weapon into a vehicle, firing a weapon on residential property, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to the plea document, the maximum sentence for the charges is 31 years in prison, and the minimum mandatory sentence is three years in prison.

Judge Robert Groeb sentenced Wright to two concurrent sentences of four years in prison for firing a weapon into a vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (three-year mandatory minimum), with credit for 44 days served; he sentenced Wright to 44 days in jail, with credit for 44 days served, for firing a weapon on residential property.