BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Telegraph Staff Writer
LAKE BUTLER—A May 2022 sideline fight between the Bronson and Chiefland high school football teams was the catalyst for a June 3 shooting at Lake Butler’s Lakeside Park that sent one person to the hospital.
According to a warrant affidavit for the arrest of Troy Carter Goodman II, 18, of Chiefland, the victim’s mother initially identified Goodman as the man that shot her son during a pop-up party at the park.
Investigator Christopher M. Avery wrote in the affidavit that during the evening of June 3, he met with the victim and his mother in the UF Health Shands intensive care unit.
“I asked (the victim) to tell me what he remembered about the incident,” the investigator wrote. “(The victim) told me that he believes the person who shot him is a ‘white guy from Chiefland.’ (The victim) did not know the name of the suspect. (The victim) said the suspect was white, about his own age, with a beard, wearing a black shirt with some white on it.”
Avery added that the victim said he could identify the shooter if he saw the offender again.
The investigator wrote that the victim’s mother followed him as he left the ICU.
“As I began to leave, (the mother) followed me out and told me that she knows who it was that shot her son,” Avery wrote. “(The mother) said it began at a football game between Bronson and Chiefland where (the victim) and his brother got into a fight with other players.”
The mother added that her son told her Goodman was the shooter. However, he did not want to reveal the name to law enforcement. The victim also identified two people who were with Goodman when he shot the victim. They both were football players with Chiefland High School last year.
Avery reported that on June 7, he returned to the hospital with a photo array of six photos, and the victim picked out Goodman from the photo lineup.
The May 19, 2022, Levy County Spring Football Jamboree was to consist of three quarters between Bronson, Chiefland, and Williston high schools.
According to the Levy County Citizen, after Williston beat Bronson in the first period 16-0, Chiefland jumped out to a 30-0 lead in the second quarter when the fight broke out on the sideline.
Officials canceled the planned third quarter between Chiefland and Williston due to the melee.
Because of the fight, the Florida High School Athletic Association prohibited Bronson from playing its 2022 Kickoff Classic preseason game against Trenton.
Avery also reported that Goodman lost his phone during the popup party, and that before he was identified as the offender in the Lakeside Park shooting, he retrieved the device from the sheriff’s office.
The defendant remains in jail with a $500,000 bail amount. He has pleaded not guilty.
