Ocala man arrested for two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder after University Avenue shooting
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ja’zier Antonio Myers, 20, of Ocala, was arrested early this morning and charged with two counts of homicide and one count of attempted homicide after shooting three people on University Avenue.
Gainesville Police Department officers who were in the area of 900 W. University Avenue for crowd control heard multiple gunshots at about 2:42 a.m. and found three people who had been shot. One victim who later died was found in front of Checkers, 912 W. University Avenue, and a second victim was found in the same area, flagging down officers. A third victim, who was shot first, was found deceased in front of Bodytech, 806 W. University Avenue.
Surveillance video reportedly showed Myers walking near the third victim at about 2:40 a.m. and showed Myers shooting the victim in the head at close range as they passed Bodytech.
The second victim told officers that he was ordering food at Checkers when he heard people arguing behind him; when he turned around, he said he saw Myers shoot the first victim at close range. He ran and was shot in the process.
Witnesses on scene told officers that they were in their car when an unknown person, later identified as Myers, got in their car with a gun. They said the man refused to get out of their car until officers approached, at which point Myers got out and dropped the gun. He was detained at that time.
Post Miranda, Myers reportedly denied being in the area at the time of the shooting; when officers showed him still photos from surveillance videos showing the shootings at Bodytech and Checkers, he reportedly confirmed he was the person in the photos. When officers said the person in the photos was the shooter in the murders, he reportedly denied being involved in a shooting; he said he had no recollection of what had happened and that he was possibly drugged.
Myers has no adult criminal history in Alachua or Marion counties. Bail information is unavailable on weekends.
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.
Bail information? How about “No Bond”… However I wouldn’t be surprised if Walter G or Tom J did put a dollar amount on him, you know because crimesville and alachua county.
This kid isn’t from Alachua county. He’s from ultra conservative Marion county. This is one of yours.
He is from Ocala, but came to G’ville for Peaceful Sunday. They don’t allow this kind of stuff down there.
He was on west university Ave. He came to hang with the UF students because the city got rid of peaceful sundays.
They don’t even have peaceful Sundays anymore!
He is from Ocala. They have enough issues with black on black crime. Just like in other cities.
More out of town criminals coming to Gangsville to partake in the rampant lawlessness so beloved and fostered by the leftists here. More meetings will be held soon to curb “gun violence” while everyone continues to ignore the elephant in the room.
He had no prior criminal history reading is fundamental
No prior ADULT criminal history in two specific counties. Juvenile history and crimes outside those counties are currently unknown. More information will be available tomorrow afternoon.
Conservatives and their ammosexual lifestyle and pro-poverty policies are to blame for this. Never met a conservative without a hard on for corporate welfare while wages and job opportunities become scarce. If people weren’t so poor and hopeless then they wouldn’t turn to crime.
Most normal decent people are at home and in bed at that hour (unless they are working). Prowling the night in you hooptie with your Saturday night special is not the path to success.
You mean if Democrat policies didn’t teach moms to remain single parent households to get as much government handouts as possible don’t you? It’s LBJ’s great social experiment and it’s still alive today despite it’s countless failures.
If people would get a job work for a living like conservatives do they would not turn to crime get off their lazy A$& but no a certain group of people thinks the government owes them a living. It has nothing to do with race there all damn colors.
This was not a robbery. The punk who shot these people was breaking the law by carrying a weapon (so much for the law working). He was from out of town, attending a ‘gathering’ at 3:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. How is this a ‘crime caused by poverty/hopelessness’…? Sounds more like a crime fomented by a lack of respect for society and life further fueled by the lack of consequences advocated by the left. 1) Curfew 2) stop and frisk 3) high/no bail 4) 3 strikes.
You take #1 for the dumbest comment. Really no job, he had money for a car, gas and a GUN.
You ASSUME he had money for a car, gas and gun. Could be his Mamma’s car, her gas and a stolen gun.
No Criminal history in Alachua or Marion Counties but for a twenty year old to gun down three people especially head shots shows he has learned this violence somewhere. The entire Gainesville area is fast becoming a war zone but not because of guns. It’s due to the violent people walking our streets and the violent people that the courts keep turning loose. These people will kill or hurt people with what ever they get their hands on. Protect yourself and your family.
I agree with what you saying but How many mass murderers kill with no prior criminal history? Just so you know it doesn’t matter how many criminals you put away there’s always another to fill his/her shoes that’s facts!
Yes I realize that, I been there done dealt with that. That is why people need to protect themselves and their family.
Putting them away much longer will reduce crime. Repeat offenders learn not to take justice seriously due to our lawyer centric faux justice joke system.
Blood 🩸 on the streets in the City of Gainesville.
There’s blood in the streets, it’s up to my ankles;
Blood in the streets, it’s up to my knee.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6lnoM25D-js
Silence from City Commisison? How many murders are we now up to in 2023?
Fat Harvey and Commissioners Past and Present own the massive spike in shootings and murders in Gainesville since their Party Hearty reckless alcohol and lawless ordinances allow late night open containers, and inept court system. They are begging for more State intervention that is obviously more than needed in the City of Wokesville.
Luckily there’s another gun violence circle-jer…I meant summit coming up. That’ll provide all the answers & the ‘violence interrupters’ (or whatever their cute little pronoun is) should prevent the need for any enforcement & prosecution.
I see the Peaceful Sundays train wreck continues. Sad. Everyone but the far left politicians knows the solution, but the commissioners prefer the Kool-Aid.
what a broken culture!
You can silence my comments all you want but you will NEVER silence the truth.
This does it, I won’t be ordering the $1 fries or the chedda chedda mother cruncher Checkers combo at 2:40 am any time soon.
Gun control NOW. A good guy with a gun would not have stopped this. Even If I have a gun on me it won’t protect me from stray bullets while I’m working downtown. Guns are the problem. Stop flooding the streets with them. The governor has blood on his hands making them so easy to obtain and so do the founding fathers and any judge who interprets that archaic and shortsighted amendment to mean that any delinquent with a bone to pick should be able to buy one at Walmart. We’ve got shootings downtown every weekend now, and the cops can’t do anything to stop it.
So you’re blaming the founding fathers, the governor, Walmart and guns for Gainesville’s ongoing gang related murders? Sadly, you probably truly believe that
1. This idiot is not allowed to possess a concealed handgun under the current law.
2. Uncle Joe say he has created more jobs then any other president. Starting wages are up under the Biden Administration. Gainesville businesses are not allowed to do background checks. Only reason people dont work is they prefer not too.
3. The city of Gainesville, judges like walt and Tommy boy, and the stupidity of the State Attorney have hobbled the police.
4. Most the people committing gun violence have no right to ownership of a firearm due to their backgrounds. They choose to continue to break the law.
5. Most law abiding people able to carry firearms have the common sense to stay out of the downtown Gainesville area for obvious reasons. And they tend not to be involved with inner city crime issues by choice.
6. Yes you can get hit by a stray bullet but there is a much better chance in Gainesville of being mowed down by a drunk driver then a stray bullet.
We need PUNISHMENT NOW. Here you are treating this murderer like he’s some poor misunderstood child, a veritable victim of the system. YOU have blood on YOUR hands for perpetuating that nonsense. “Ya’ll made it too easy for this poor child to get a gun!” What foolishness! Gainesville sure has some of the stupidest people I have ever encountered in my life.
🤣🤣🤣 Most the “good guys” are home in bed with their loved ones or sleeping after or before an honest day’s work.
You should probably play in a different sandbox.
STOLEN guns and other STEALING is the root problem.
Doubting Thomas, guns aren’t the problem. The proliferation and over abundance of hate and disrespect are.
Mr. surdi,
You might appear more credible if you capitalized your last name.
I don’t think we can agree on everything, but what do you think about a curfew?
For you clueless people who don’t know anything bout crime or the streets. It doesn’t matter what gun laws are in affect or how “TUFF YOU MAKE THE LAWS” how high you make a criminals bond. There’s always going to be another criminal to fill those shoes, there’s always going to be gun crimes. Because guns are easily accessible in the streets. Y’all always ask how criminals get guns? It’s the same way you go get your McDonald everyday it’s that easy. An sadly That’s just the times we are in gun crimes is up everywhere not just Gainesville. There’s nothing you can do to stop it.
Crime wasn’t this bad when you could order automatic weapons from a Sears catalogue. So I don’t think it’s the guns.
There is but the liberal idiots think it’s cruel and inhumane.
1) Curfew. 2) Stop and frisk. 3) three strikes.
What kind of culture is this? They kill their own and now bringing it to Gainesville. No wonder people are getting out of town. Downtown is not safe and especially at that time of day. Students beware.
WTF how are student luxury apartments in that area going to help gentrify, now? Fortunately it happened after bars closed. But imagine it happening in broad daylight in the UF Context Area we are trying to resurrect from 50 years of squandered urban prior neglect?
Curfew. The spontaneous gatherings after hours have resulted in too much violence.
It happened in MI and OH yesterday, too. Same type of gathering.
Looks like that gun violence convention at Santa Fe College didn’t work 😞
Anyone notice a pattern?
This shooting occurred at 2:42 a.m.? GPD was in the area for ‘crowd control’???? Curfew is the answer. If you do not have a good reason to be on the street at 3:00 a.m. on a Sunday, you should be home getting ready to go fishing, to church or sleeping.
Blue jays are a bird species that mate for life. Not only that, but they’re with their mate all year round, the two becoming forever intertwined with one another and never straying. Blue jays are also known for having very strong family bonds, being extremely protective of their babies, and being loyal to their mates.
People could learn a lot from nature. Maybe if the “Left” encouraged family values we would have a better society.
I wonder what kind of music he was bumping to get himself psyched up to commit this mass shooting?? Maybe some Beethoven, possibly some Classic Rock?!!
The one thing we can be sure of thanks our local government officials, no one at the Taco Bell or Checker’s were give extra condiments or napkins…or the environment was safe.
Once again the ole saying comes full circle. Bring your homicidal habits to G’ville.
Low bail, ankle monitor no batteries. No trial my friend, plea deal by lazy prosecutors, approved by radical judges.
Back on the street blastin & bangin away. That city and its leaders will never change.
Once again…EAST of 13th St, or WEST of 13th St? These brain-dead commissioners decrying ‘gun’ violence should start addressing the TRUE issue at hand..GANG violence! Fixed That For You, commissioners…
I keep hearing it’s the guns fault, no jobs, no parents, blah blah blah. The city and county commissions want to blame this violence on everything but the undeniable fact is that black people are killing black people. Solve that issue and the murder rate across the country goes down. People need to stop letting the city, county, and federal government officials fool them. Stop letting them tell you that everything under the sun is responsible for black people dying in this country. The plain truth is that the majority of black folks being killed and maimed is at the hands of other black people.
Ja’zier? Where do they get these silly names? I read mugshots just for the names, they crack me up.
“he said he had no recollection of what had happened and that he was possibly drugged.”
Possibly drugged??? Self administered no doubt. Good luck with that defence.
According to one country music artist, this wouldn’t have happened in a small town.
Maybe we should listen more.
20 years old and his life and those he murdered are over. Great life choices here, moron.
The city had no problem shutting everyone down for COVID. So if they really wanted to they could do a curfew for this violence crisis.
Wonder if Ben has filed as Attorney of Record yet? Hopefully he’s at least come out and made a public statement saying Ja’zier is being framed or something. There has to some money in it for him.
Curfew…..it is out of control…..curfew
This is very sad. My heart goes out to the families who lost a loved one to this senseless act.