Juveniles charged as adults in downtown shooting incident

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Devone Antonio Lock, 16, and Cameron Katrell Toombs, 18, have been charged as adults with several felonies connected to a downtown shooting last July, when Lock was 15 and Toombs was 17.

At about 2:33 a.m. on July 5, 2025, Gainesville Police Department officers heard gunshots and found two spent 9mm shell casings in the parking lot behind Loosey’s (120 SW 1st Avenue). A female victim was transported to a local hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to her leg.

The victim reportedly said she was standing in the parking lot with friends when she heard gunshots, and as she ran away, she was hit in the leg by a bullet. She said that as she was running away, she saw Lock, who she knew as “D-Lock,” standing near her, and over the next few days, she heard rumors that Lock had been involved in the shooting.

On July 12, 2025, a witness who was reportedly with Toombs that night was arrested in an unrelated investigation, and he had a gun in his possession at the time of his arrest. The gun was test-fired and was found to be the same gun that had fired the shell casings found at the scene of the July 5 incident.

Further investigation revealed that this witness had gone downtown with Toombs on July 5, and while they were there, a juvenile male arrived and gave Toombs a handgun (the handgun the witness had when he was arrested). Later that night, Lock reportedly said something to the juvenile male as he walked by, and Lock allegedly tried to pistol-whip the juvenile male “out of nowhere,” but the juvenile male ducked out of the way. Lock reportedly pulled his gun up as if he were about to start shooting, and Toombs allegedly shot at Lock in defense of the juvenile male. During this time, the female victim was hit by a bullet.

Later that night, Toombs reportedly told a friend that he shot at Lock after Lock fired his gun, and then he gave the gun back to the juvenile male. A few days later, the juvenile male reportedly gave the gun to the witness because he did not want his mother to find it.

A search of the witness’s cell phone after his arrest reportedly showed notifications from an Instagram group chat, talking about the shooting; the arrest report notes that this witness was signed into someone else’s Instagram account, and his account was not part of the group chat.

At about 4:05 a.m. on July 5, 2025, there was a message in the group chat that said, “Nd la dlock sized [the juvenile male]” (“D-Lock” is Lock’s nickname). A few minutes later, the juvenile male wrote, “Jit tried to pistol whack me,” and another account asked where Toombs was; the response was, “Kuh blew.” The officer noted, “These messages are consistent with Lock attempting to pistol whip [the juvenile male] and Toombs firing a gun.”

Officers were not able to determine whether Lock fired his gun.

Lock reportedly told an officer that he was downtown at the time of the incident but had no involvement.

Lock has been charged with attempted aggravated battery, attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by an adjudicated delinquent, and unlawfully carrying a concealed firearm. He has a juvenile conviction from 2022. Judge James Colaw granted a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial.

The officer noted that since Toombs was under 18 at the time of the shooting, he was unlawfully in possession of a firearm, so the statute that permits the use of a firearm to defend another person does not apply to him. Toombs has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, unlawfully carrying a concealed firearm, transferring a firearm to a juvenile, and tampering with evidence. The State Attorney’s Office has requested that a judge order 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.