GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In a startling incident, Anita S. Torres, 59, found herself in police custody yesterday following allegations of gunfire in a neighbor’s screened utility room. This peculiar episode unfolded in the tranquil Highland Court Manor neighborhood of Gainesville.
According to reports, the unsettling events began around 11:54 a.m. on March 25, when a resident was alerted by his partner to an unusual noise emanating from their utility room. Upon investigation, the male resident discovered Torres’s empty wheelchair parked outside, with the room’s glass door shattered.
The situation escalated when Torres, reportedly armed, responded with screams when questioned by the homeowner about her actions. She then retreated to her wheelchair, leaving the couple inside their home, deeply concerned for their safety.
In a further twist, the residents recounted how Torres approached their front door, accusing them of encroaching on her so-called “uninhabited property.” This claim puzzled the residents as Torres neither resides in nor claims ownership of their property. Her listed address is, however, in close proximity to their home.
Following her arrest, authorities reportedly found a live round in Torres’s possession that matched a round in the loaded .45 caliber firearm, adding another layer of concern to the already tense situation.
A search incident to arrest reportedly produced a live round in Torres’s pocket that matched the round in the loaded .45 caliber firearm.
The officer reported that a shell casing was found inside the victims’ utility room, and a hole had been shot into the rear glass door; the round traveled through the glass and through a metal shed in the victims’ back yard, but the officer was unable to find where it landed. The officer noted that there is a home directly behind the victims’ home, and the round could easily have entered another home or injured someone.
Post Miranda, Torres reportedly admitted to going to the victims’ home, firing a round, breaking the glass window on the utility room door, and reloading the gun. She said she shot the gun because she is tired of the male victim using his mind to torment her dog; she said she was not trying to shoot any person. She said that after shooting the gun, she got back into her wheelchair and went to the victims’ front door, with the gun on her lap. She said she never pointed the gun at the male victim, and he should not have been in fear for his safety.
Torres has been charged with armed burglary, two counts of burglary with assault, and firing a weapon into a dwelling. She has 13 felony convictions (four violent) and 28 misdemeanor convictions (non-violent), all before 2010; she has served one state prison sentence and was released in 2006. Judge Meshon Rawls ordered her held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold her without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
