Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Travis Jamar Graham, 34, was taken into custody yesterday for allegedly firing three shots at a neighbor’s apartment in the Phoenix locality.

Around 1:20 p.m., an officer from the Gainesville Police Department was dispatched to the 2600 block of SW 33rd Place. Graham and the victim had been engaged in an argument. The victim reportedly stood on his second-floor balcony and flicked a cigarette butt to the ground near Graham, prompting Graham to allegedly fire three shots at the apartment. The officer discovered bullets lodged in the front door, a living room wall, and the ceiling of the victim’s apartment. At the shooting time, the victim was inside the apartment with a two-year-old child, and several shell casings were found on the scene.

A witness reportedly observed Graham and the victim having a dispute on the first floor before the victim went onto his second-floor balcony and threw a trash bag at Graham. She heard the victim say something to Graham, which she couldn’t make out, and then saw him flicking a cigarette butt at Graham. She heard three gunshots but couldn’t see the shooter, noting the victim didn’t appear to have any weapon and only Graham and the victim were involved in the altercation.

A second witness reportedly said she saw Graham and the victim arguing on the first floor, and then the victim threw a trash bag at Graham from a second-floor balcony. She also said she saw the victim toss a cigarette butt at Graham as he went back into his apartment. She said she heard at least three gunshots. She said she heard the victim threaten Graham but never saw the victim with any weapon; she said she only saw a cigarette in his hand.

Post Miranda, Graham reportedly said the victim came downstairs and started arguing with him for no reason and got face-to-face with him, so he had to push the victim away. He said the victim went to the second floor, kept arguing with him, threw a trash bag at him, and said, “You can die.” Graham said the victim turned and went into his apartment but then came out and threw something at him; he said he didn’t know what it was at the time. He said he shot his pistol more than once while the victim was outside the apartment because he was in fear for his safety and that he aimed at the victim’s door.

Graham reportedly said he never saw the victim display a weapon and only realized after the fact that the thrown object was a cigarette. He said he never wanted to harm anybody; he just wanted to remove the threat. He said there is a history of confrontation between him and the victim, but the victim has never displayed a weapon.

Graham reportedly consented to a search of his apartment and showed officers a pistol that had been placed on top of a washing machine. The pistol had been reported stolen in Gainesville in December 2023.

The arresting officer reported that surveillance video showed the victim shirtless on his balcony, “so it was clear that the [victim] was not carrying a weapon at that time.” Graham could reportedly be heard challenging the victim to “throw it at him” multiple times, and Graham reportedly said, “I got a cake to bake for you.”

The officer wrote that the video clearly showed that Graham was not in fear and that he intentionally discharged more than one round of ammunition at the victim and his apartment, “without any legal justification and with the knowledge that injury or damage will or may be caused to another person or the property of another person.”

Graham has been charged with second-degree attempted homicide, firing a weapon into a dwelling, and grand theft of a firearm. His only criminal history is a 2017 arrest for misdemeanor marijuana possession, and he successfully completed a deferred prosecution agreement. Judge James Colaw ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial.

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.