Gainesville man arrested for firearm possession after shooting investigation

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Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Courtney Edward Crosby, 33, was arrested early this morning and charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and resisting arrest after he approached Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officers during a shooting investigation, claiming to be the victim.

GPD officers responded to a call about a shooting at 1600 N. Main Street at about 10:15 p.m. last night, and one officer stopped a car and detained a suspect. Crosby arrived a short time later and reportedly said he was the victim of the shooting; he was reportedly behaving erratically and screaming and yelling. After an officer calmed him down, Crosby waited by his car at the Circle K at 1515 N. Main Street; the suspect who had been detained was in a patrol vehicle about 30 yards away from Crosby’s car.

At about 11 p.m., Crosby reportedly sprinted toward the patrol vehicle, making verbal threats against the man detained in the patrol vehicle. Crosby reportedly tried twice to open the doors of the patrol vehicle to get to the suspect inside, causing officers to take him to the ground and attempt to handcuff him. Crosby allegedly resisted attempts to handcuff him, and it took two officers to secure him in handcuffs.

After Crosby was handcuffed, officers learned that security footage reportedly showed he was one of the shooters. Alachua Chronicle has attempted to get more information about the shooting incident, but GPD has not yet provided the information.

At about that time, Crosby’s mother arrived to get items from the car for Crosby’s son, and an officer went to the car to help her. As the officer removed Walmart bags from the car, he checked with Crosby’s mother to see whether the items were for Crosby’s son; one bag held a pair of shoes, and when the officer lifted it to hand it to the woman, he reportedly saw a pistol inside one of the shoes.

The officer put the shoes and pistol back into the car and secured the car. He ran Crosby’s identification and learned that Crosby has two previous felony convictions and cannot possess firearms.

Crosby, an electrical contractor who has lived in Alachua County all his life, has two felony convictions (none violent) and five misdemeanor convictions (two violent). He served one state prison sentence for burglary of an occupied dwelling and was released in 2011. Judge Thomas Jaworski set bail at $60,000.

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.