A 40-year-old documented gang member with numerous felony convictions was arrested in St. Petersburg after he shot himself in the leg while allegedly trying to buy a gun he was legally barred from owning, according to police officials. Byron Bryant initially told officers he had been robbed outside a business on 5th Avenue North, but multiple witnesses said no robbery ever took place.
Police officials say Bryant later admitted he was in the process of buying the firearm when it fired from within his pants, according to a report cited by Tampa Bay 28. The shot was fired at a downward angle, per the arrest affidavit, and the bullet lodged behind his knee. Bryant went to a St. Petersburg hospital with a gunshot wound to his inner thigh, and one witness reported seeing him holding his leg and yelling that he had shot himself.
Bryant was booked into the Pinellas County Jail and charged with felonious possession of a firearm, since he cannot lawfully possess a weapon because of his criminal history. He was already out on bond stemming from a robbery and aggravated battery case from May when the shooting happened, and he was ultimately held on no bond.
Why Bryant Can Be Held Without Bond
Florida law gives judges explicit authority to pull pretrial release the moment probable cause emerges that a defendant committed a new crime while out on bond. Under Florida Statute § 903.0471, that authority is exactly why Bryant now sits in custody without bond rather than back out awaiting trial on his earlier robbery and aggravated battery charges.
The felon-in-possession charge itself carries steep consequences. Under Florida Statute § 790.23, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine, and the state's 10-20-Life law imposes a mandatory minimum three-year prison sentence if Bryant is convicted of actual physical possession. Prosecutors could also seek a gang penalty enhancement under Florida Statute § 874.04, which bumps the maximum penalty to the next higher felony degree if they prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the crime was committed to benefit a criminal gang — though it remains unclear whether that enhancement will be pursued in Bryant's case.
No Gun Rights Despite Permitless Carry Law
Florida expanded permitless concealed carry in July 2023, but the law explicitly keeps convicted felons barred from possessing firearms unless their rights are restored through executive clemency, according to the Brancato Law Firm. That distinction matters in Bryant's case given his documented gang status and prior felony convictions.
Bryant's arrest also fits a pattern of joint enforcement in Pinellas County. Federal prosecutors in Florida's Middle District routinely partner with St. Petersburg police through Project Safe Neighborhoods to bring federal charges against repeat felons caught with guns, an approach that led to a 15-year federal sentence for St. Petersburg felon Martez Manning and nearly six years for fellow St. Petersburg felon Darrius Lovett, both cases previously reported by Hoodline. Whether federal authorities will adopt Bryant's case remains an open question.
Part of a Broader Crime Picture
Within the St. Petersburg Police Department, gang activity, violent assaults, and homicides fall under the Major Crimes Unit inside the Crimes Against Persons Division. The department announced in January that overall crime dropped 16% citywide in 2025, with homicides falling 44% to just 10 incidents — the city's lowest single-year homicide total since 1967.
Illegal firearm cases involving felons and gang members have surfaced repeatedly in St. Petersburg in recent years. In January 2025, police arrested two men on attempted murder and felon-in-possession charges after a daytime shootout on 14th Avenue North led to a police chase that ended near 5th Avenue North — the same corridor where Bryant claimed his shooting occurred. That same month, officers arrested Charles Teal, a convicted felon barred from owning firearms, for second-degree murder and firearm possession after a fatal shooting outside a St. Pete market where they seized an SKS rifle. And in August, a 15-year-old Gibbs High School freshman was arrested after a concealed handgun was found hidden in his clothing on campus.
