I figure that’s the sort of question people now have to ask every day. The answer to this is almost, sort of. In addition to a murder charge in the death of Odin Llyod and an investigation into a double homicide last year, police are also looking at a probable connection between Aaron Hernandez and a shooting in ’07 when he was a freshman on the University of Florida football team.
The 2007 Gainesville shooting happened on Sept. 30, when Hernandez was a 17-year-old freshman with the Gators. The two men and a friend of theirs had left a nightclub and were in their car stopped at a light blocks away when their vehicle was fired upon, according to the statements two of the men gave to police. Corey Smith, a 28-year-old at the time who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was shot in back of the head. Justin Glass, the 19-year-old driver, was shot in the arm. Randall Cason, sitting in the back seat behind Smith, was unharmed.
Cason, then 20, told police that shooter was a “Hawaiian” or “Hispanic” male who had a large muscular build, stood about 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4, weighed about 230 or 240 pounds and had a lot of tattoos. Cason said there was also a black male with the shooter, and Cason identified the black male as Reggie Nelson, a former Florida Gator who was a rookie with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Nelson, in an interview with the Gainesville police, said he had been at the nightclub earlier but denied he was even on the same street as the shooting.
“As they were waiting for the light to change, the Hawaiian football player and Reggie Nelson walked up to their car on the right side,” according to the police report, which cited what Cason told detectives. “Then without saying a work [sic], the Hawaiian pointed a small handgun in the front right window and fired five quick shots. Cason saw Smith slump over with blood coming out of the back of the head, at which time the Hawaiian and Nelson took off running towards McDonald’s.” ESPN
What was the reason for the shooting? Nelson and Hernandez had been in an altercation at a club.
Jesus, keep this guy away from the clubs. His idea of settling an argument is shooting you in the head. Can you imagine him as a kid in school? If a teacher gave him a F, he probably just punched them in the face.