Violence erupted on a West Palm Beach street early Sunday morning, leaving a man hospitalized after an altercation evolved into an attempted shooting. According to the West Palm Beach Police Department, they responded to the scene at 709 4th Street following a shooting incident involving a shotgun, as reported by CBS12.
Willie Lovelace, 36, was identified as the suspect in this confrontation that initially began as a verbal quarrel behind 709 4th Street, it escalated Lovelace reportedly warned the victim, "Don't go nowhere, I'll be back" after the victim refused to fight him, this according to a CBS12 account. Consequently, in the darkness of night, past midnight, Lovelace seemingly made good on his threat by discharging his shotgun multiple times as the victim, who has been identified as Thomas Alleyne, fled from his makeshift tent at the same location.
The victim, while successfully evading the gunfire, did not escape unscathed; he suffered a laceration to the shoulder, not from a gunshot wound and received treatment at St. Mary's Medical Center, as he told officers that Lovelace, while "racking" his gun, called him out before firing the shots, CBS12 reports.
Further investigation by the West Palm Beach Police Department led to the discovery of five shell casings, a damaged tarp, along with a bullet mark on the back wall of a nearby building, no additional injuries were reported despite the severe nature of the incident and Lovelace was subsequently arrested and charged with attempted premeditated murder while the investigation remains ongoing, making noteworthy a reported account of Lovelace's identification both by witnesses and through a photo lineup by Alleyne as per a WPBF article.
