Three people injured, one killed, in Memorial Day weekend shootings at Ginnie Springs

Edited on May 30 to correct spelling of victim’s name.

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

TRENTON, Fla. – At a press conference today, Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) provided more details on two shootings at Ginnie Springs that killed one person and injured three over the Memorial Day weekend.

Sheriff Bobby Schultz said that at the time of the shooting Friday night, there were at least 20,000 people and maybe as many as 30,000 at the park’s campground: “It was more like a rave party than it was a campground.” He said GCSO’s resources were “depleted very quickly” during the investigation of the first shooting, so Florida Department of Law Enforcement took over the investigation of the second shooting.

GCSO Sergeant Benita Rolling said the first shooting happened at 12:39 a.m. Saturday morning, near the bathhouse at Beaver Landing. Koty Edward Stewart, a Jacksonville resident, was found deceased at the scene by responding deputies.

The investigation determined that two opposing groups had engaged in two separate disputes that turned into physical fights, an hour or two before the shooting; one was reportedly over a parking spot at a campsite. Witnesses told investigators that about an hour after the altercations were resolved, Stewart was shot and killed.

Dallas Jordan Watts, 21, of St. Mary’s, GA, was arrested at the scene for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and resisting an officer without violence. He is being held at the Gilchrist County Jail.

An arrest warrant was issued on Saturday night for his brother, Fisher Dalton Watts, 18, and Fisher was arrested in Camden County, GA, on Sunday afternoon and charged with first-degree murder. He is awaiting extradition to Gilchrist County.

Will Porter, the Special Agent in charge of the FDLE Gainesville Field Office, said the second shooting was at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night; during a large fight involving multiple subjects, a suspect shot into the crowd and hit three innocent bystanders who were not involved in the fight. Porter said one of the victims is in “very serious condition” at this time; the other two were treated and released with minor injuries. Porter said FDLE is not ready to release any other information about the victims, but they have developed suspects in the case, and their investigation is ongoing.

Sheriff Schultz: “We’re going to investigate them, we’re going to hunt them down, and we’re going to put them in jail and hold them accountable.”

Sheriff Schultz said, “There’s a lot of things I can control in Gilchrist County, but the one thing that I can’t control is who comes here. I can’t control how much intoxicants that people consume. I can’t control the type of people who comes to Gilchrist County. But you can rest assured, while I can’t control those things, what we can control are people like this [holding up the booking photos of the two suspects] that come into our county and wreak havoc here, and we will pursue them. We’re going to investigate them, we’re going to hunt them down, and we’re going to put them in jail and hold them accountable. That’s what happened. I can’t control what other people do. But I can certainly control, once they make a poor decision, of what we’re going to do.”

Undersheriff Robert Willis said the Sheriff’s Office has been dealing with an “escalation of problems at that location for years… The density at that location, and… the excess and open use of intoxicants there is surely a recipe for disaster, no matter where it is… That place was a disaster as far as a crowd control situation.”

Willis said that both the Watts brothers have criminal histories in Georgia.

Increased presence planned for Independence Day weekend

Schultz said that his agency and Gilchrist County Fire Rescue responded to 89 calls for service in the park and conducted 98 traffic stops between May 23 and May 27 this year. He said the agency is planning to have an increased presence at the campground for the Independence Day weekend: “I don’t want it to appear to be an armed occupation on the northeast side of Gilchrist County, but I’m not going to say that that’s been ruled out as an option. There will be a heavy presence of Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office, as well as other agencies that will be doing everything we can to prevent this type of activity from happening again.”

Schultz thanked the many agencies that assisted with the investigation, including Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Florida Highway Patrol, Gilchrist County Fire Rescue, Gilchrist County Emergency Management, and the 8th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office. Other agencies that offered or provided support were Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, Dixie County Sheriff’s Office, Levy County Sheriff’s Office, and Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and High Springs Police Department also provided traffic enforcement on the Alachua County side of the roads leading to the springs.

Both investigations are ongoing, and GCSO and FDLE urge anyone who may have taken any photos or videos over the weekend to contact the agencies. Information from the Friday night shooting can be sent to Sgt Rolling at 352-463-3410, and information from the Saturday night shooting can be sent to FDLE at 386-462-9975.