Deputies charge Middleburg man with attempted murder in connection to shooting

MIDDLEBURG, Fla. – One person was rushed to the hospital following an early morning shooting outside a home in Middleburg.

According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, just before 12:30 a.m., deputies were called to a home on Zagato Court in reference to a shooting. When deputies arrived, they found someone suffering from gunshot wounds in the stomach and arm in the front yard.

According to investigators, the victim was rushed to Orange Park Medical Center for evaluation and underwent surgery. Investigators said the victim was intubated and unable to talk about the events that led up to the shooting. The Sheriff’s Office also said the victim’s condition and prognosis are undetermined.

am Sidney McWilliam, 36, who lives at the home where the shooting happened, was placed into custody, an arrest report stated.

The report stated that while McWilliams was in the back of a patrol car, he became violent and started banging his head into the partition that separates the front of the front seats from the back seats. McWilliams had to be taken to the hospital after he reportedly cut his head open.

Once McWilliams was medically cleared, he was driven to the CCSO Robbery-Homicide office where he was questioned. While most of his statements were redacted from the report, there was a section on page two of the report where McWilliams was asked if he had only beaten the victim during a fistfight, why would he be scared? His answer was redacted from the report.

While it’s still unclear what led up to the shooting the investigators wrote: At no time did the suspect attempt to contact law enforcement to report the incident.

Detectives obtained a search warrant to search the property, but what they found was redacted from the report.

The Sheriff’s Office said that based on the information they had, there was enough probable cause to charge McWilliams with attempted murder.

Hours after McWilliams was taken into custody, he was booked into the Clay County jail without bond.

It’s unclear if he has obtained an attorney.