Police investigators allege that Nicholas Safford fired the first shots of a downtown Pensacola shooting July 5 that left one person dead and six others injured.
They also claim that Safford handed off a gun used in the shooting to his girlfriend and later bragged to another friend about how he shot and killed 19-year-old Phillip Sheppard Jr.
However, killing Sheppard is one thing investigators say Safford did not do.
In a pretrial detention hearing July 14, Pensacola Police Detective Amanda Robinson gave testimony that it was “impossible” that Safford was the one who killed Sheppard.
“His bullet did not strike Sheppard,” Robinson said at the hearing while discussing autopsy results. “The entrance and exit wounds (of Sheppard) is impossible to have occurred to come from (Safford’s) gun based on trajectory and basic physics.”
Safford is charged with attempted first-degree premeditated murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm in public and multiple counts of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon in connection to the mass shooting early July 5 in downtown Pensacola.
By reviewing surveillance and body camera footage and interviewing witnesses to the shooting, which occurred on Intendencia Street following Independence Day celebrations, detectives determined that Safford and Sheppard had argued in the lead up to the shooting.
According to Robinson, they talked about “girls” and “people who were deceased or in prison from local gangs.”
Safford allegedly then went and retrieved a handgun from 16-year-old Kanye Walker—who was later arrested on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person under 18 and principal to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon—then returned to Sheppard and was captured on video raising the weapon, pointing it toward Sheppard and his girlfriend and firing.
Robinson said after the shooting, Safford called a friend and, “He told (the friend) that he had shot and killed Phillip Sheppard. He described that Phillip had his hands up in the air, he pointed the gun at him and shot and killed him.”
Safford’s girlfriend, Lillian Meyers, also faces charges of accessory after the fact charge and tampering with evidence after investigators discovered she allegedly met Safford to transport the firearm used in the shooting back to her apartment.
None of the three people arrested in connection with the shooting have actually been charged with Sheppard’s murder.
After Robinson testified, Judge Todd Harris granted Assistant State Attorney Amy Shea’s motion to hold Safford in pretrial detention on his attempted murder and assault charges, saying he believed it’s probable Safford committed the crime.
“I do find that there is a substantial probability that this defendant committed the dangerous crimes of which he’s charged,” Harris said. “The factual circumstances of the crime indicate a reckless disregard of the safety of this community, and I find that based on his actions there are no conditions of release that would reasonably protect the community from further harm from this defendant.”
A judge previously ordered Safford to be held without bond on his attempted murder charge but did grant him a $10,000 bond for his aggravated assault charge.
Harris revoked the $10,000 bond and ordered Safford to be held in custody throughout his case until trial. His next court date is scheduled for July 31.
Benjamin Johnson is the breaking news, crime and military reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He covers local law enforcement, courts, breaking news and military within Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. He can be reached at bjohnson@pnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: ‘Impossible’ for accused gunman in July 5 shooting to have fired fatal shot
Reporting by Benjamin Johnson, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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By Benjamin Johnson, Pensacola News Journal | USA TODAY Network
