LEESBURG, Florida—A Leesburg High School student accused of opening fire at Berry Park Thanksgiving weekend was arrested Tuesday and is facing 34 felony and two misdemeanor charges, according to an arrest affidavit.
On Nov. 28, around 5:45 p.m., Leesburg Police Department responded to Berry Park, 2121 Johns Avenue in reference to a disturbance, battery and shooting.
LPD arrived at the park to find more than two dozen people and most refused to speak with officers, according to the affidavit. One woman, who refused to give her name, came forward and said the altercation began over a black female driving a red car, pulling into the parking lot and nearly striking a child. The red vehicle left, but one of the occupants returned later in a gray SUV and an argument began and shots were fired, the affidavit states.
Victim one flagged officers down at another location and said she rode to Berry Park in a red car earlier with three friends and an older black female confronted victim one’s friend, the driver about what she felt was careless driving. The woman then reached into the car window and “mushed” victim one’s face. Victim one rolled her window up and Zamarion Z. Johnson, 17, tapped on the window with an unknown object and is alleged to have said, “B****, what you want to do?”
Victim one, who knows Johnson, said there were 60 to 80 people at the park, and she believed Johnson’s family was having a gathering. She then left the park and was dropped off at her mother’s home.
She told her mother and sister, victim two and victim three, what happened, and the trio decided to return to Berry Park to talk to the female about the altercation, according to the affidavit. When they arrived at the park in the gray SUV, a large group of people approached them arguing and it became physical. Victims one and there were punched in the face and victim two received a small cut to her head.
The victims got back into the SUV and began to back out when Johnson took out a handgun and fired numerous shots at the SUV. Victim one stated, “(Johnson) let a whole clip go.”
The SUV was shot four times, a second vehicle was shot through the front passenger window and LPD found 10 9mm shell casings at the scene, according to the affidavit. Victim one was transported to UF Health Leesburg and while she was there, she showed an LPD detective a photo of someone she identified as “Mari” with a Facebook profile name of “Bi Mari.” The photo matched the in-house photo LPD has of Johnson, the detective noted in the affidavit. Victim one also described where Johnson lives and victims two and three identified Johnson separately in a photo lineup.
LPD responded to Johnson’s home, and he admitted being at the park during the first altercation, but said he went home before the second altercation and shooting occurred.
Police obtained surveillance video from the park that showed “The subject was standing in front of the vehicle firing directly at the victims. The large crowd of people began to run, to include small children, who were just to the left of the shooter, in between him and the victims’ vehicle,” the LPD detective stated in the affidavit.
Johnson was arrested for 30 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, four counts of shooting a deadly missile into a vehicle, discharging a firearm in a public place and possession of a firearm by a minor. He was turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.
