Two charged following north Cape shooting incident
Two Cape Coral men were arrested Wednesday after a shooting incident that left a woman wounded by a bullet fragment to the face and schools and daycares in the northeast Cape on temporary lockdown.
James “JJ” Clemons, 43, and Jessie Howard, 30, both of 1320 N.E. 18th Terrace, were charged with aggravated battery (cause bodily harm or disability), aggravated assault (with deadly weapon without intent to kill) and weapon offense/shooting into an occupied vehicle.
The incident began shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday as a verbal dispute, escalated into threats and then a pursuit involving multiple gunshots as the victim and her boyfriend tried to escape in their vehicle.
According to police, at approximately 4:24 p.m, the Cape Coral Police Department received numerous 9-1-1 calls about 20-plus gunshots heard in the area of 1512 N.E. 16th Terrace.
“As officers were responding to the area, another call was received from a female who identified herself as Nicole Mercado; she said she was shot in the face,” a release from the agency states.
Officers met with Mercado and Lacroy Broomfield at a residence in North Fort Myers.
Police were told Broomfield and Mercado drove to the home on 16th Terrace where Broomfield was going to pick up an item from his cousin. While at the residence, a woman described as his ex-girlfriend saw Mercado and a “verbal disturbance ensued inside the residence and moved outside.”
While outside, additional members of the ex-girlfriend’s family began surrounding the two, verbally threatening to do bodily harm to them, police reported. Broomfield and Mercado got into Mercado’s car for their safety and “the mob surrounded the vehicle and began hitting it and coming at them.”
“Lacroy was driving and Nicole was in the passenger’s seat and they fled the neighborhood,” the release states, adding, “Almost immediately, a black Pontiac Grand Prix began following and chasing them.”
There were two people in the Pontiac – a male driver and a male passenger “hanging out the window, pointing a gun at Nicole and Lacroy. The passenger began shooting at Nicole’s vehicle, striking it multiple times, and a bullet fragment even struck Nicole in the face,” the release states.
Broomfield told police the driver was James “JJ” Clemons and the passenger was Jessie Howard. Officers were also informed of Howard’s address.
“Nicole’s injury required immediate medical attention and she was transported to Lee Memorial Trauma Center,” officials said.
Meanwhile, Cape police went to 1320 N.E. 18th Terrace where they found both Howard and Clemons.
A “show-up” was done with Broomfield, who identified Clemons as the suspect driver of the Grand Prix and Howard as the shooter.
Officers took both men into custody.
Police report they also used an unrelated witness who described the man involved in the shooting and that the descriptions of clothing and hairstyle matched that of Howard, who was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and had long dreadlocks when taken into custody.
Both men were later transported to Lee County Jail.
No bond has been set on the aggravated battery charges; bond was set at $100,000 for each on the aggravated assault and weapon offense charges.
– Source:?Cape Coral Police Department