PANAMA CITY BEACH — It was a case of mistaken identity, one of the witnesses claims.
Tavon Grace, 24, of Humble, Texas, and his friend Nicholas Vaughn of Columbus, Mississippi, were walking along Front Beach Road at midnight on Sunday near the intersection of Richard Jackson Boulevard near the Burger King when a group of men ran up and shouted in Grace and Vaughn’s direction: “That’s them.”
“We didn’t even know these dudes,” Vaughn said.
Shortly thereafter, Vaughn dodged a punch and then fled across the street to meet Grace. With his back turned, he heard shots ring out — multiple, although in the chaos he was not sure how many.
“My homeboy got shot,” Vaughn said.
Grace was shot in the left triceps and he quickly slumped to the ground in a seated position, blood dripping on the pavement. He was transported to Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health System and released later that evening. Sunday was Vaughn and Grace’s last day on Spring Break; they headed back to Starkville, Mississippi, on Sunday to resume classes at Mississippi State University.
“It was so crazy,” Vaughn said.
Panama City Beach Capt. Robert Jackson said Monday police are still searching for the suspect.
Just an hour later at 1:13 a.m. Sunday, police again responding to the Burger King, where Demone Mawu, 18, of Acworth, Georgia, was stabbed in the abdomen.
Mawu made his way over to the roadway of the Bikini Beach motel, where a Panama City Beach officer found him and applied pressure to the deep laceration. Mawu also claims to not know his assailant, who was wearing a white V-neck shirt and blue shorts. As he became more woozy, he could not identify which direction the assailant fled.
Mawu was transported to Bay Medical and treated and released.
Jackson also said police are searching for this suspect but they believe the two cases are unrelated.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Beach Police at 850-233-5000 or anonymously at 850-785-TIPS (8477).