HIGH SPRINGS, Fla. – The investigation into two separate shootings at Ginnie Springs over the Memorial Day weekend details what caused a weekend of celebration to end in gunfire.
Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement held a news conference Tuesday to provide updates, according to News 6 partner WJXT.
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The Friday night shooting happened after visitors got into an argument over a parking spot at the park, according to the GCSO.
The two groups got into a fight an hour before the shooting, deputies said. It was assumed the fights were resolved, but Koty Stewart, 34, of Jacksonville, was found shot near the Beaver’s Landing bathhouse.
Two brothers from St. Marys, Georgia, Fisher and Dallas Watts, left the park after the shooting but were later arrested and booked into the Camden County jail.
Fisher Watts, 18, was charged with first-degree murder. Dallas was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and resisting arrest without violence.
News4JAX spoke to Stewart’s sister about her brother.
“My brother was an AMAZING human being. Wanted nothing more but for his family to be loved and taken care of. His main purpose in life was to take care of his loved ones around him. He was the best son, father, husband, brother and friend. This death has impacted our family in a way I never thought could happen. Koty didn’t deserve this. He worked every day and went home to his wife and kids,” his sister said.
The Saturday night shooting happened around 11:30 p.m. in the roadway inside the park, between the Devil’s Spring and the Tube Launch.
Deputies said a “large” fight broke out, causing someone to shoot into the crowd. Three people were hit and taken to the hospital.
Two people were treated and released, but the third person was still in the hospital in serious condition.
There were no arrests made in the Saturday shooting.
The FDLE expects to hear from witnesses.
If you have any information about these shootings, you’re urged to call 386-462-9975.
A total of four people were shot over the weekend.
The sheriff’s office said crowd and drug and alcohol issues at Ginnie Springs have escalated over the years.
It’s estimated there were more than 20,000 people at the park over the weekend, with only 35 police officers from various agencies there.
The shootings closed the park but it was reopened the next day.
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