A Georgia college student was one of last weekend’s Miami Beach shooting victims
Osagie Jordan Idahosa, a 21-year-old college student from Georgia, was the victim of a deadly shooting Friday during spring break in South Beach, according to an incident report released Wednesday by Miami Beach police.
Police and the MiamiDade State Attorney’s Office continue to investigate the shooting, which also left 21-year-old Tameen Abdullah, of McDonough, Georgia, wounded.
The report says Lawarren Omeal Meadows, a 23year-old Tallahassee man, was taken into custody.
As first responders began to perform CPR on Idahosa, Meadows approached an officer and said, “It was me,” according to the police report. When the officer asked what he meant, Meadows admitted to shooting the victim and was promptly handcuffed, the report says.
Police said that while he was detained Meadows “made spontaneous statements saying that someone pulled a gun on him, forcing him to defend himself.”
It was not immediately clear who Meadows was accusing of pulling the gun, whether he knew the victims, or what led to the incident.
Meadows has not been charged. Police are grappling with a self-defense claim under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, according to law-enforcement sources.
IN TOWN WITH FRIENDS
Idahosa’s identity was first reported by WALB, Georgia TV station that spoke with Idahosa’s brother and a friend who was nearby when the shooting took place around 10:41 p.m. on Ocean Drive near Seventh Street.
Javon Johnson, the friend who was with Idahosa, told WALB the incident seemed to happen suddenly.
“My friend had called me to see where I was at, and I turned around for like 10 seconds,” he said. “After that, all you heard was gunshots. I really didn’t know who it was. I couldn’t see anything.”
Police said they recovered four guns at the scene and said it was an “isolated incident.” According to the incident report, Meadows told police he had thrown a gun in the bushes nearby and had another gun in his pocket. Officers took both.
The report says police later saw Abdullah on the other side of the street and rendered first aid. He and Idahosa were taken to Ryder Trauma Center. Idahosa died there, according to police, and Abdullah was listed in critical condition
before being released the next day.
ATTENDING 2 COLLEGES
Idahosa was a student at South Georgia State College and was taking a class at nearby Valdosta State University as part of an entry program that allows South Georgia State students to work their way toward becoming full-time Valdosta State students, according to WALB.
This semester, Idahosa had joined VSU’s Collegiate Men student group, which posted on Instagram mourning Idahosa’s death and planned to hold a candlelight vigil Wednesday evening.
Justin Carter, the group’s president, told the Herald that Idahosa was one of the youngest children in a large family and was determined to graduate college like his siblings did. He recalled a video that Idahosa had posted on social media this year, encouraging young people to go to school and work on themselves.
“He was all about improving himself,” Carter said. “He was a funny guy. But when he needed to be serious, he was serious.”
On his Facebook profile, Idahosa described himself as a “disciple of Christ” and posted about his involvement with the International Christian Church in recent years.
Idahosa’s brother, Sammy, told WALB that Idahosa was a “special guy” who “went from being homeschooled to being a scholar.”
Just over 24 hours after Idahosa was killed, a man was shot to death on a busy Ocean Drive sidewalk near 11th Street, a few blocks from where the first shooting took place. Police said the second incident, which happened around 3:30 a.m. Sunday, was also isolated and “targeted.”