A 68-year-old woman identified as Shirley Williams died Sunday night at the Alachua County Jail after a detention officer found her unresponsive in her bed during a routine check around 11:15 p.m. The officer performed CPR until medical staff arrived, but paramedics were unable to revive her and she was pronounced dead roughly 30 minutes later. The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division and the Office of Professional Standards have both opened parallel investigations into the death, which is described as standard practice.
Sources: The Gainesville Sun · Mainstreet Daily News · WCJB TV20
An anonymous caller reported Tuesday that a bomb had been placed at a specific location on the Santa Fe High School campus, prompting authorities from multiple agencies to respond. Students were moved to a secure location while the school was placed on lockdown, and officers from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deployed a bomb-detection K-9 to search the building. No one was allowed on school property during the investigation.
Sources: WCJB TV20
Lake City law enforcement arrested four men from the north Florida region following an undercover operation targeting online child exploitation. Detectives posed as underage girls on websites used for arranging sexual encounters, and the four suspects — from Fort White, Lake City, and Jacksonville — engaged in sexually explicit communications believing they were speaking with minors. The men face various sex crime charges.
Sources: WCJB TV20
Antrell Hillard, 33, of Live Oak has pleaded guilty to postal robbery and assault following incidents in Gainesville and Ocala in which he stole master keys from mail carriers while they were on their routes. In one instance, he physically broke a key free from a carrier’s belt. Hillard is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21.
Sources: WCJB TV20
Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 17-year-old at a block party Saturday at an apartment complex on Southwest 20th Avenue after he was found carrying a loaded rifle. The teen also had two outstanding warrants for parole violations related to a prior aggravated assault charge. A second juvenile was also taken into custody at the same event, though deputies did not detail the reason for that arrest.
Sources: WCJB TV20
A 17-year-old boy was fatally shot on Northwest 6th Street near 26th Avenue on Sunday night, and a 53-year-old man was stabbed to death following a fight on Northwest 3rd Street the same evening. The two killings bring Gainesville’s homicide count to at least five so far in 2026, already surpassing the total recorded for all of last year. Both cases remain under active investigation, and Gainesville Police are asking anyone with information to contact the department or Alachua County Crime Stoppers.
Sources: WCJB TV20 · Mainstreet Daily News
Two masked men entered a Circle K gas station on Southeast Hawthorne Road east of Gainesville early Sunday morning, holding two employees at gunpoint and stealing cash from the register before fleeing on foot. The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office released security camera images of the suspects and is asking anyone with information to contact Detective Michael Adkins.
Sources: Mainstreet Daily News · WCJB TV20
Tommy Poole, 37, was returned to Levy County after being arrested in Oregon on charges stemming from a years-long child sexual abuse investigation, authorities announced Monday. Officials said Poole abused multiple victims, the youngest of whom was 7 years old, with charges including two counts of capital sexual battery on a child under 12. One victim told investigators that the abuse resulted in a pregnancy.
Sources: WCJB TV20
