Ocala man arrested for shooting woman near campus

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Fabian Marcel Rivera, 24, was arrested early this morning and charged with attempted homicide after allegedly shooting a woman near the University of Florida campus.

At about 3:34 a.m., a Gainesville Police Department officer responded to the 1700 block of NW 1st Avenue and found a female victim on the sidewalk with a gunshot to her abdomen. The victim was transported to a hospital and reportedly went straight into surgery.

The officer’s investigation found that the victim was with the alleged shooter and two other people who all claimed to be acquaintances of the victim. The first witness said he had been sitting in the driver’s seat of his parked vehicle, looking at his cell phone; he said Rivera was in the front passenger seat of his vehicle and the victim was standing outside the open driver’s door.

The first witness said he keeps a Glock 26 handgun in the center console of his vehicle, and while he was looking at his phone, he heard a loud bang and saw the victim on the ground. He said he turned to his right and saw Rivera holding the Glock 26, then he got out to help the victim.

The second witness said he was sitting in another parked vehicle across the street when he heard a gunshot and heard the victim scream. He said he ran across the street, saw the victim bleeding from the abdomen, removed his shirt, and used it to apply pressure to the wound. He said he heard the first witness say that Rivera had shot the victim, and he said Rivera had fled on foot after the shooting.

An officer reviewed surveillance footage that reportedly showed the first witness sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, looking down at his phone, with the driver’s side door open. Rivera could be seen in the passenger seat, and the victim was standing outside the driver’s side door.

In the video, the victim and Rivera appeared to be speaking with each other, then Rivera took a drink from a can and the victim reached into the vehicle and grabbed a drink can. The video reportedly showed Rivera looking down at the center console, looking back up at the victim holding the drink, then quickly extending his right arm up, pointing the gun at the victim, and firing once. Rivera reportedly stared at the victim for about 30 seconds and then got out of the vehicle, threw the drink can into the bushes, and fled the area.

Officers reported finding a Glock 26 and a shell casing inside the vehicle, and a Four Loko was found in a nearby bush.

Rivera was reportedly apprehended after a brief foot chase.

Post Miranda, Rivera reportedly said he saw the gun on the driver’s seat and picked it up to put it in the center console because they had all been drinking alcohol. He was reportedly unable to explain how the victim was shot if he was moving the firearm down toward the center console. He reportedly said the shooting was an “accident” but could not describe how the firearm was accidentally discharged or what part of the shooting was an accident. He reportedly said the victim is “like a little sister to him.”

The officer reported that none of Rivera’s statements were consistent with the video surveillance.

Rivera has been charged with attempted first-degree (premeditated) homicide and resisting an officer without violence. He has two open cases in Marion County, one for running from an officer who was investigating a fight and the other for fleeing from a traffic stop and driving without a valid license. His first appearance before a judge will be tomorrow.

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.