News and Public Media for North Central Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Police: Ocala man shot three others after video prank

Updated 11:15 a.m.: In video from Lobban's first court appearance below, his attorney asked for a monitored release.

Judge Tommy Thompson denied the request.

"Considering the nature of the charges... I appreciate your arguments, counsel, but I don't change my mind as far as the fact that I am going to have a no-bond order on this case on all three counts.

"That is based on the risk of harm to the community if Mr. Lobban was to be released," Thompson said.


Video courtesy of Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Original story: OCALA (AP) — A man charged with murder told police he shot three bouncers he had worked with for teasing him about a video that showed him being "punked," Ocala police said Sunday.

One of the victims played a prank on Andrew Joseph Lobban, 31, when they went shooting one time and took a video of it, police said. The victim then shared the video with the other victims, who laughed and teased Lobban. It appears to have upset Lobban quite a bit, police said in a statement.

Lobban was arrested Sunday and charged with three counts of first degree felony murder. He was being held in jail without bond. It was not immediately known if he has an attorney.

Witnesses told police they saw Lobban pull a black handgun from his pants and point the gun towards one of the bouncers standing outside a bar. Several shots were fired and Lobban was seen running from the scene, according to an arrest affidavit.

Police found Lobban at his girlfriend's house a short time later and took him to the police department for questioning. Lobban told police he shot at least two rounds at one of the victims, the arrest affidavit states. He also told police he placed the gun inside a trash can and only intended to shoot of the victims.

Benjamin Larz Howard, 23, Jerry Lamar Bynes, Jr., 20, and Josue Santiago, 25, were shot in the head, according to the medical examiner's office. All three were found lying along the sidewalk. One was pronounced dead at the scene. The other two died at the hospital.

Police said Lobban worked with the victims as bouncers at the Ocala Entertainment Complex. Lobban told police that Santiago recently "punked" him, capturing it all on video that was shown to Howard and Bynes. Lobban said he was embarrassed when the group began laughing and teasing him about the video.

The Associated Press is a wire service to which WUFT News subscribes.