Suspect arrested for discharging a firearm in public

Press release from Gainesville Police Department

In another incident of a growing trend of shots fired and shootings, Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officers responded to calls of shots fired and an armed suspect on August 19, 2020, at approximately 12:20 a.m., in the area of the 1600 block of NE 12th Avenue.

After arriving at the scene, GPD officers identified a suspect that exactly matched the description of an individual reported by a confidential witness to the Combined Communications Center.

When GPD officers approached the suspect, he fled and refused to stop when lawfully commanded to do so. After the suspect was apprehended and detained, he was read his rights.

GPD officers then located a recently-fired handgun in close proximity to the suspect. The handgun was later identified as being stolen during a conveyance burglary.

The suspect was then given a presumptive gunshot residue test, which was returned positive for gunshot residue.

Based on the suspect’s flight from law enforcement, refusal to stop when lawfully commanded to do so, his proximity to the stolen and recently-fired handgun, and the unexplained presence of gunshot residue on his person, as well as the fact that he was under active indictment for a felony (Grand Theft Auto and Resisting an Officer Without Violence), the suspect, identified as: Kionne Atkins (DOB: 02/14/2002), was arrested for Use of a Firearm While Under Indictment, Resisting an Officer Without Violence, Discharging a Firearm in Public, and Loitering and Prowling.