PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) – An early morning shooting around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday led to the death of a man and a teenager facing murder charges.
According to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, 17-year-old Brayden Raul Gomez shot William Robert McArthur in the back of the head.
McArthur, acting as a Lyft driver, was said to be giving Gomez a ride from a business on Front Beach Road to the Woodlawn area, with Gomez seated in the back.
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Investigators said Gomez confessed to the shooting, saying he was angered by some of McArthur’s comments to him.
He claimed the victim pointed out Gomez was intoxicated and underage, said he would amount to nothing, and said Gomez’s mother was “Sorry.”
That’s when Gomez allegedly pulled his gun and shot McArthur near the intersection of Wildwood Road and Emerald Cove Street.
According to authorities, Gomez claimed he pulled McArthur from the vehicle and attempted to revive him. Meanwhile, the car kept moving until it stopped roughly 100 yards down the road.
Deputies said they found Gomez’s bloody clothes at his mother’s nearby home.
They also said Gomez led them to the gun that he allegedly threw in a garbage can in Woodlawn.
The State Attorney’s Office has waived Gomez to adult status.
He is currently in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice, charged with an Open Count of Murder.
