A man was arrested in Pinellas County on July 6 after a stray bullet struck a downtown Orlando building four days earlier.
OPD identified the suspect as Justice S. Fletcher. According to investigators, Fletcher placed a firearm in a trash receptacle near 1 S. Orange Avenue on the night of July 2, returned to retrieve it minutes later, and accidentally discharged it, striking a nearby building. No injuries were reported. The entire incident was caught on video.
OPD says Fletcher was observed dropping the firearm multiple times while intoxicated in the presence of numerous patrons in the downtown area throughout the evening. Despite those repeated incidents, OPD said it received no 911 calls from witnesses.
Earlier that same night, officers had made contact with Fletcher at the Grand Bohemian Hotel, where he was issued a trespass warning and told to leave. That encounter later helped investigators identify him.
After the discharge, OPD’s Crime Center located Fletcher in a downtown parking garage. Officers attempted to make contact, but he fled. The firearm was recovered nearby, placed into evidence, and determined to be stolen.
Fletcher was taken into custody by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office on July 6 on unrelated charges and on an OPD warrant. He faces the following charges in Orlando: aggravated assault with a firearm, shooting into a public building, grand theft, discharging a firearm on public property, using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol, improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon, resisting an officer without violence, and tampering with evidence.
OPD is asking anyone who witnesses dangerous behavior involving firearms to call 911 immediately.
