Third suspect arrested in fatal shootout at Leesburg bar
A third suspect has been arrested in the gun battle outside a Leesburg bar that left a man dead last summer, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday.
Shelton Rucker, 30, is facing a second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of 22-year-old Saderris Tarver outside the Jesse Black Saloon in August, officials said.
Rucker is the third and final suspect that will be arrested in the incident, officials said.
Two others, Antwain Hart, 24, and Darius Alexander, 20, were charged in October in connection to the crime.
Deputies say Tarver and Hart got into an argument inside the bar in the early morning of Aug. 23.
Hart went out to the parking lot and was followed by Tarver and the other men.
Surveillance footage captured Hart going to a vehicle in the parking lot, which sits along U.S. Highway 441, and grabbing a gun, records show.
At the same time, the surveillance shows Rucker, Alexander and Tarver walking toward Dumpsters in the lot.
The men started firing and a gun battle ensued, records show.
Witnesses said they heard about six shots come from Hart and another six or seven come from the men huddled near the Dumpster, deputies said.
“This was a full on shootout,” Lake County Sheriff’s Office spokesman John Herrell said.
“There were rounds fired from different directions and different parties, so we don’t know exactly whose round killed Mr. Tarver,” Herrell added.
Deputies who rushed to the saloon found a large crowd gathered near the back of the parking lot, officials said.
Tarver was lying between two cars, according to authorities.
He was taken to Leesburg Regional Medical Center where he later died.
Hart and Alexander were arrested on a slew of charges including felony murder, possession of a firearm by a felon, drug possession and discharging a weapon in public.
Along with the seconddegree murder charge, Rucker is also facing charges including possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and firing a weapon in public.
Rucker was previously arrested in 2011 for robbery and theft.
He pleaded no in the crime.
He also pleaded no contest in 2007 on drug charges.
contest