- October 28, 2024
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Deputies have arrested three men for spraying gunfire at a home on Kalamazoo Trail the evening of Thursday, Jan. 28. Although 35 shell casings were recovered from the scene and a pregnant woman was at the house at the time of the shooting, no one was injured.
In interviews with detectives after their arrests, the suspects said they'd initially driven to the house on Kalamazoo so that one of the suspects could fight one of the residents.
But when they reached the resident by phone, and he said he wasn't home — he was in Daytona Beach — plans changed.
"I did not come all this way for nothing. We are shooting up the house," suspect Randy Alexandre had said, according to one of the other suspects' accounts to a deputy.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office's dispatch center started getting calls about a shooting on Kalamazoo Trail at 6:48 p.m.
Two minutes later, a Sheriff's Office sergeant saw a silver Ford Fusion matching the descriptions of the shooters' car heading south on Belle Terre Parkway.
The sergeant and several deputies conducted a high-risk traffic stop and detained five occupants: three men and two 16-year-olds.
One deputy noticed the muzzles of two handguns visible in the front driver's and passenger's seats. Deputies found another handgun later.
One witness told deputies she'd been told that one of the suspects, 18-year-old Jamey Bennet, had wanted to fight someone in the house.
During questioning by detectives, the suspects said that Bennet had recently been "jumped" by about 15 people, and that one person involved had stolen his sneakers and taunted him on social media by posting pictures of them. Threats were exchanged. One of the people involved insulted a dead relative of Bennet and one of the other suspects, 25-year-old Paul Pajotte.
Alexandre, 21, was angered by the jumping and wanted to fight one of the people involved.
Bennet, Alexandre and Pajotte tried to arrange a fight but weren't able to and got frustrated, so they drove by the house and shot it up.
Detectives found surveillance video showing the shooting, with gunfire coming from the car's front passenger and from the backseat passenger on the driver’s side.
Many bullets entered the home, and others hit a parked car on the property.
“Here we have grown men who think they can handle disagreements with gunfire," Sheriff Rick Staly said in an FCSO news release. "Two of them aren’t even from around here, and they thought they could come here and commit a crime and get away with it. They are lucky they did not injury anyone with this reckless and very dangerous behavior. Violence doesn’t solve problems; it only creates more problems.”
All three of the men involved were arrested, and the 16-year-olds were turned over to their parents.
Bennet and Alexandre are both charged with Shooting a Missile at a Dwelling, and Pajotte is charged with Shooting a Missile at a Dwelling and Possession of a Weapon by a Convicted Felon, and also for Violation of Probation for Identity Fraud — an outstanding warrant that deputies discovered after detaining him.
Detectives are still investigating and have asked anyone with information to call the FCSO at 386-313-4911 and mention case number 2021-8758, or email [email protected]. Or, to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS (8477). Crimestoppers tipsters may be eligible for an award of up to $5,000.
