Man 'upset over rental charges' shoots apartment complex employee, says Tallahassee police

Christopher Cann, Tallahassee Democrat
·2 min read

A man "upset over rental charges" was arrested after he shot a worker of the apartment complex where he lived Tuesday afternoon, according to the Tallahassee Police Department.

Ernest Lawson, 33, was booked in the Leon County Detention Facility where he remains without bail, on a charge of attempted homicide.

The shooting occurred just before 1 p.m., outside the Blue Cascade apartment complex, 400 Putnam Dr., just off South Monroe Street, according to TPD spokesperson Alicia Hill.

"She was not his landlord, but he was a resident of the complex," Hill said.

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Soon after the shooting, TPD’s Violent Crimes Unit determined that Lawson "waited for the (woman) to arrive at work and approached her as she exited her vehicle," according to a TPD incident analysis.

Lawson, "who was upset over rental charges," took out a handgun and shot the woman soon after the encounter, TPD said. She was then rushed to a local hospital with "serious injuries."

The starting price for a four-bedroom unit at the complex is $435 per bed, according to the complex's website.

"Detectives were able to develop probable cause and subsequently arrest the suspect a short time after the shooting," read the incident synopsis. "He was taken into custody without further incident."

There have been at least 90 serious shootings in Tallahassee this year, resulting in at least 64 injuries and 15 deaths, according to an analysis of gun violence by the Tallahassee Democrat.

Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: TPD: Tallahassee, Florida man arrested after shooting woman over rent