Five (5) people were shot at a crab festival in Williston, Florida, and now the public is demanding answers in the aftermath of Saturday’s fatal street party. Barry Barney, a 36-year-old attendee, was killed in the shooting when emergency ambulances were unable to get through an estimated crowd of 10,000 people to rescue the victims or capture the shooter.
Two women and two other men were also injured by the spray of gunfire.
Because EMS vehicles couldn’t get through, police officers had to evacuate the victims in police and private vehicles. Barney was airlifted by helicopter but died on the way.
But was it a crab festival at all? At the moment, no one is taking credit for organizing the event. Instead it has been described by at least one Florida blogger as a series of underground street parties. The Williston event had reportedly been a scene of violence in the past.
The Levy County Police Department knew about the unauthorized and unlicensed crab festival. Indeed, they already had ambulances and the medical helicopter near the area, just in case. However, the ambulances proved to be of little use, since the crowds wouldn’t clear to make way for the EMS vehicles.
In addition, the crowds made it impossible to capture the alleged crab festival shooter of five at the scene. However, 19-year-old Devonte Tremaine Ocasio was later arrested in Marion County, where he was charged with a long list of firearms related offenses.
His bond was set at $1.5 million, and Ocasio was then extradited back to Levy County.
Levy County won’t name the victims who are still alive. They don’t want to them to be targeted again. Police officials believe that the motive was drug-related.
They’re still investigating the possibility that there was a second person involved in the shooting of the five crab festival victims.
[crab photo by Adam Houlston via Creative Commons]