Gainesville (Fla.) police conducted a “thorough investigation” into a 2007 shooting and concluded that Aaron Hernandez was not a suspect, Officer Ben Tobias told USA TODAY Sports last week.
ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” reported Wednesday that police in Massachusetts wanted to learn more about the incident in 2007 in which two men were shot inside a vehicle. Both men survived.
“The description of the shooter was a black male. It was not even remotely close to Mr. Hernandez’s color or build,” Tobias said. “We did a thorough investigation at that point, and it did not lead to him whatsoever.”
Gainesville Police refused to release the full incident report. The ESPN report cited a report that contained a statement from a witness that there were two suspects, including a “Hawaiian or Hispanic” man matching Hernandez’s build shot a small gun into a car. That witness told police the other man involved was Reggie Nelson, who was a rookie safety with the Jacksonville Jaguars at the time. The witness later rescinded his identification of the alleged shooters, according to the report.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder in the death of acquaintance Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football who was found dead of five gunshot wounds on June 17. Police have indicated Hernandez also is under investigation for a 2012 double homicide in Boston.
On Wednesday, the Gainesville Police Department released the following statement in response to the ESPN report:
“The Gainesville Police Department is aware that members of the national media are reporting on GPD Case 02-07-020053, a shooting investigation from an incident report obtained from sources outside of the Department. The stories also mention that Massachusetts law enforcement agencies have contacted the Gainesville Police Department about the investigation.
“The Gainesville Police Department has not been contacted by any other law enforcement agency about this incident. The Gainesville Police Department has not released any incident report concerning this case, due to it being an open criminal investigation. Any alleged reports currently circulating may or may not be accurate, since the Gainesville Police Department did not release any reports. The origin of these alleged reports is unknown.
“Due to the case being classified as an open criminal investigation, the Gainesville Police Department will not be releasing an incident report nor commenting on this open investigation.”
SOURCE: USA Today
