(This story was updated with new information.)
RIVIERA BEACH — A 20-year-old man told police he “had to get rid of the demons” in fatally shooting his cousin and wounding four other men on March 16, Chief Michael Coleman said.
Investigators identified the shooter as Tramonte Terrell Gibson, 20, of West Palm Beach. He faces multiple charges, including one count of first-degree murder in the death of John Halliburton.
During a news conference March 17 at the Riviera Beach Police Department headquarters, Coleman said Gibson wounded two of the four men critically in the shooting near the Azure Estates apartments before fleeing in a stolen vehicle.
Detectives did not release the names of the other shooting victims. Besides the murder charge, Gibson faces four counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of armed carjacking.
Coleman said Gibson expressed no remorse for the attacks and made the reference to exorcising demons while detectives questioned him. During a court hearing Sept. 18 at the Palm Beach County Jail, Senior Judge Ted Booras ordered that Gibson be held without bail and assigned a public defender to represent him.
As a matter of policy, the Palm Beach County Public Defender’s Office does not comment on active cases.
Investigators say the situation unfolded at about 6:15 p.m. March 16 as Gibson was visiting a friend in Azure Estates, a community along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard that formerly was known as Stonybrook.
Coleman said Gibson went to the community’s clubhouse, where he encountered a group of people. Gibson reportedly complained of being harassed and contacted Halliburton and asked him to bring a backpack that contained a handgun.
After obtaining the weapon, Gibson opened fire on three men, including his cousin, police said. Paramedics took the men to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach in critical condition, with Halliburton eventually succumbing to his injuries.
Gibson shot and wounded two other men during a failed carjacking attempt before successfully taking another vehicle by force and fleeing the scene, police said. Investigators say the two men involved in the attempted carjacking drove themselves to St. Mary’s to be treated for minor gunshot wounds.
A ‘Be on the lookout” alert, or BOLO, was issued to other law-enforcement agencies, and Florida Highway Patrol troopers and Indian River County Sheriff’s Office deputies spotted the vehicle on Interstate 95 near Indrio Road in northern St. Lucie County.
Gibson admitted to the shootings while Riviera Beach detectives interviewed him, investigators said.
Julius Whigham II covers northern Palm Beach County and public safety for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm Beach man says ‘demons’ led to fatal shooting, carjacking
Reporting by Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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