OCALA, Fla. – An Ocala man charged with shooting and killing three bouncers over what police say was a prank was given no bond on Monday at his first appearance.
Andrew Lobban, 31, is in the Marion County Jail on a no-bond status, charged with three counts of first-degree murder after police say he shot and killed Josue Santiago, Jerry Bynes Jr. and Benjamin Howard outside of AJ's bar early Sunday morning.
The uncle of Howard, who served for three years in Afghanistan, called the shootings "senseless."
"Senseless it what it is. And if the boy had thought about it, he could have confronted them and said 'don't be playing the video, I'm tired of it,' instead of taking somebody's life," said Clinton Clark. "He ruined his own life at the same time."
Hundreds of people gathered Sunday night for a vigil at Ocala Entertainment Complex, a venue about a mile from where the shooting occurred.
Ocala police said the victims were friends with Lobban and all worked together as bouncers at the Ocala Entertainment Complex. Police said a videotaped prank left Lobban bitter and embarrassed until he sought revenge Sunday.
Investigators said the four were together at a gun range a few weeks ago and the friends recorded Lobban attempting to shoot his gun. The friends are believed to have set up Lobban so that his gun misfired and, according to Lobban, the three victims had been teasing him about the video for several weeks.
Lobban told authorities he was going after Santiago and didn't mean to hit Howard and Bynes.
Lobban didn't have much to say as police walked him into a waiting patrol car just hours after the triple-shooting.
Friends expressed shock about the triple-slaying.
"A friend has your back 24/7 and even for that, that's not a friend and that's not a man to do something like that," said David Rutherford, who attended the vigil to remember his three friends.
Rutherford said he was inside the bar when the shooting happened.
"All you hear is the bouncer yelling, 'Get back.' It was hard. It was hard not knowing what was going on. You peek out and you see guys laying on the ground," said Rutherford. "Everybody knows they had a good heart."
In the 911 calls released on Monday, a frantic caller asks for an ambulance.
"Somebody is shot, we need an (expletive) ambulance," the caller tells dispatchers.
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