Homeless man charged with threatening to bomb Meridian
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Joseph Sherrill, 44, was arrested last night and charged with threatening to bomb Meridian Behavioral Health.
On September 19, 2023, an employee at Meridian Behavioral Health reported that Sherrill called her office and was “irate”; she said he threatened to “bring a bomb and blow everyone up” and “bring an assault rifle and kill everyone.” The employee said she was familiar with Sherrill, recognized his voice, and had confirmed that the call came from his phone number.
An Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy called Sherrill’s number, and Sherrill reportedly confirmed that the phone number was his. He denied making any threats over the phone and said he was angry with Meridian for a perceived breach of his HIPAA protected information. The deputy reported that Sherrill refused to meet in person or give the deputy any information about his location; Sherrill is described as homeless in court documents.
The deputy filed a sworn complaint, formal charges were filed on December 28, and a capias for Sherrill’s arrest was issued the next day.
Sherrill’s last local arrest was in 2016, but he has at least three felony convictions (two violent) and three misdemeanor convictions (one violent). He has served one state prison sentence for an offense out of Dixie County and was released in 2014.
Court documents are not updated on weekends. According to the jail site, he is being held on $75,000 bail, which was the amount recommended in the capias.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.Â
This is odd that the deputy had the information in Sept of 2023 and waited 3 months to file charges especially since a warrant was issued almost immediately for Sherrill. It took another 4 months to arrest the guy. It is understandable on the arrest time being the guy is homeless and hard to find. But where was the urgency or concern for three months if they thought it was serious enough to file a sworn complaint. A warrant was issued within 24 hours so a judge and state attorney thought it was serious enough to push it through. Sounds like someone may have buried the case or blew it off. I wonder if this was a result of CLOVIS regime and Sheriff Gainey stepping in and putting things in order.
It could be from his feeling stuck here for useless addiction therapy in a college town he cannot compete in. Just to satisfy public attorney$, judge$ and rubber stamping therapist$.
Move the shelters and rehab centers FAR AWAY from college towns.
They should of let him level that place.
Homeless Hood Rats Strike Again!!!
Yay the homeless beautify Gainesville and commit most of the crimes. How can we get more to move here?