Schools locked down during search for weapon
BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
STARKE— Starke police said they arrested an 18-year-old Starke man after a weapon he was handling discharged and struck a woman at a convenience store.
Cole William Crosby was arrested on Dec. 9 for culpable negligence, destroying evidence, unlawful discharge of a firearm and providing false information during the sale of a firearm.
Police Detective Hunter Redding wrote in an arrest report that the high school student admitted to stealing two 9mm handguns from a family member and using the weapons for target practice the following day with friends.
Lottery ticket, snacks and a loud pop
Redding wrote that based on witness statements and store video, the defendant arrived at the convenience store at 10:55 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8 with 43-year-old Billie Christine Astra and Astra’s son Dylan M. Armour.
Moments before the three pulled up to the Circle K, a 36-year-old Hampton woman arrived at the store on a pink bicycle, parked the two-wheeler in front of the store, and went inside.
After Crosby parked the red passenger car, Astra went inside the store to cash in a scratch-off ticket and purchase snacks while Crosby and Armour remained in the vehicle.
Astra and the cyclist were inside the Circle K at the same time but did not interact.
After Astra returned to the vehicle’s back seat, Armour went inside to purchase ice for their motel room at the Sleepy Hollow, leaving Crosby and Astra alone in the car, with Crosby in the driver’s seat and Astra seated behind him.
Redding wrote in his report that at the moment Armour exited the store, the Hampton woman is seen on video near the front door bending over.
Astra told police she heard a loud pop and thought the driver’s seat airbag had deployed.
A witness parked near the defendant said she saw the cyclist exit the store and heard a shot, followed by the woman’s scream.
A second witness inside the store also heard the shot, then saw the victim enter the store shouting that she had been shot.
A third witness was across Temple Avenue when he heard a pop, followed by someone saying: “Don’t hurt him.”
The man said he then drove across the street to purchase gas and saw EMS treating the victim, who was stating she was going to die.
The day after the shooting, Redding interviewed the victim at UF Health Shands in Gainesville.
“(The victim) advised that she did not see who shot her and that she did not hear anything prior to her being shot,” Redding wrote. “(The victim) advised that she remembers her chest hurting and that she was bleeding. (She) stated that an unknown woman stated to her that she couldn’t believe that he shot her.”
The defendant told police that the gun went off accidentally.
“Crosby stated that he placed the firearm in his lap,” wrote the detective. “Upon attempting to place the firearm in the driver door pocket, he pulled the trigger, causing the bullet to strike (the victim’s) upper torso.”
Tossed the gun in Pleasant Grove
Astra told police that the trio left the store and only realized while passing Bradford High School that a shooting may have occurred.
However, a law enforcement source said the three immediately realized what had occurred and fled because Astra had outstanding arrest warrants.
Deputies later arrested Astra on the warrants, which were for possession of opium, selling opium and unlawful use of a two-way communications device.
After passing the high school, Crosby turned west, eventually driving past Starke Elementary School on County Road 229 and turning right onto Northwest 177th Avenue at Pleasant Grove United Church before making a left on Northwest 59th Avenue. There he tossed the 9mm into a nearby wooded area.
Police later recovered the weapon.
One of Crosby’s family members had a smartphone app that could track Crosby’s location. She told police the defendant was located at the Sleepy Hollow Motel on U.S. 301, north of the Bradford County Fairgrounds.
At 7:41 Friday morning, Redding and Starke police officers found the red car driven by the defendant the previous night with a bullet hole in the driver’s door panel.
After police and deputies surrounded the motel, Astra, Crosby and Armour surrendered.
School lockdowns and weapon recovery
Police and deputies then turned their attention to recovering the second stolen 9mm.
According to a law enforcement source, Crosby told officers he gave the handgun to a Bradford High School classmate. After deputies could not locate the classmate at school, officials briefly ordered students at the high school, middle school, technical college, and Rainbow Center to shelter in place.
The classmate told officers he had already disposed of the weapon. His father later tracked down the missing handgun and turned it over to law enforcement.
