Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather was alleged to have been the shooter of two former high school classmates. The victims’ lawyer who passed along the initial allegations has expressed doubt regarding Meriweather’s status as the shooter. We’ve been waiting for more facts to emerge in the case and can share with you the incident report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. This portion of the report was taken at the shooting scene at 2:10am on February 28th and it names Nico Stanley and Quentin Taylor as the shooting victims. Here’s what it says (you’ll probably have to zoom in):
There was another notable part of the incident report, and this was taken from the Florida Hospital Apopka at 4:26am on February 28th:
[Victim Quentin]Taylor had what appeared to be an entry wound from a gun shot on his left cheek, and a small knot just above his left ear. I asked this subject his name, and who was responsible for the injuries he had received. Taylor either could not, or would not answer any questions that I asked. I was later able to obtain his name from the hospital staff. While I was attempting to question Taylor, he appeared to have a seizure. Medical personal stepped in to treat the victim, and at the time of this report the victim remained unconscious.
I can very easily understand why the victims weren’t talking immediately. First off, many people get worried and become fearful and panicked after such an event. Their initial reaction is to be scared of further retaliation should they snitch. Friends and family even discourage cooperation with police because they worry about things escalating. Just because Meriweather’s name was not part of the report does not mean he was not involved in the incident. It just means that at the time the victims were not talking and the police were not able to interview many witnesses. It makes complete sense to me that the victims would wait a few days before seeking an attorney.
