A 55-year-old Florida man, Calvin Roosevelt Gilbert, has been accused of shooting at a man outside a DeLand bar. Reportedly, the shooting took place after an argument over a reimbursement of a paid $5 beer.
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According to WESH, citing the DeLand Police Department, the incident took place during the early morning of Saturday, May 24. Reportedly, Gilberty had been drinking with the victim at McCabe’s Bar.
After the bar closed, the two individuals exited the establishment. There, Gilbert reportedly confronted the victim over a $5 beer the former had bought for the latter. Gilbert was demanding reimbursement. The verbal altercation escalated at the bar’s parking lot until Gilbert allegedly drew a handgun and fired at the victim.
Fortunately for the victim, he was not hit, as he ducked precisely at the time Gilbert shot. Instead, the bullet struck one of the bar’s exterior coolers. At around 2:05 a.m., authorities responded to the scene and were able to recover a single shell casing, belonging to the weapon Gilbert allegedly fired.
Surveillance footage revealed that Gilbert allegedly fled the scene in his vehicle after firing the shot. However, he was later detained and identified by the victim at a photo lineup. Reportedly, the two men were not previously acquainted before Saturday night.
On Sunday, May 25, Calvin Roosevelt Gilbert was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder and using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol.
A Troubled Bar History
As reported by WKMG, McCabe’s Bar has been served a violation of lease notice. Currently, police are reviewing the bar’s liquor license.
“The owners of the bar, they have a lease, an agreement, with the management of McCabe’s Bar,” police said during a press conference. “And I’m being told they’re in violation of some of these parts of the lease. And the ownership is going to demand that the hours of operation change.”
Weeks before this incident, former University of Miami football player Avantae Williams allegedly shot a 32-year-old man, Keshod Harris, seven times in the chest. Harris would later succumb to his injuries. A second victim, one of the bartenders, was shot in both hands after reportedly attempting to separate the two men.
“It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever been through,” Courtney Rickman, the bartender, told WKMG. “It happened so fast that I didn’t really have time to get scared when it happened, but, it keeps coming back, it replays in your mind over and over.”