BAY MINETTE, Ala. (WKRG) — A threat, made hours before the gunfire erupted on March 27 in one of the busiest sections of Gulf Shores, appears to have stirred tensions between two rival groups from Bay Minette, according to testimony in 18-year-old Gregory Tate’s preliminary hearing Thursday.
Mobile Police investigating I-65 service road shooting
Tate entered the courtroom dressed in prison garb and shackled, but it was different clothes — a black T-shirt, red shorts and red Crocs — that police say helped identify him as the shooter.
Defense attorney Jim Byrd also revealed some sort of dispute before the shooting where the victim of the shooting was threatened.
“There had been arguments,” Byrd said. “One of the boys had said, ‘We are going to get you later.’ Greg wasn’t there when that occurred.”
Gulf Shores 2023 spring break shooting suspect pleads guilty, receives sentence
He did arrive some hours later according to Byrd as tensions between two rival groups familiar to law enforcement in Bay Minette started to escalate.
“They are people from these two groups that have caused an immense amount of issues for the city of Bay Minette,” Baldwin County District Attorney’s Office lead prosecutor Teresa Heinz said. “They just happen to take it on the road to Gulf Shores.”
The 17-year-old victim was hit once in the leg in what is called a through-and-through shot. He is still recovering, according to testimony.
The gun, believed to be a 9 mm handgun, has not been recovered.
Three separate security camera systems and a cell phone captured the events of that March night in a place crowded with hundreds of people when those shots rang out.
“What a lot of these people don’t take into consideration when they have these rival disputes, all the other people that are there,” Heinz said. “This time we have one person injured. We could have had a lot more.”
Biloxi city councilman pleads guilty to drug charges
In his only statements to police, Tate said he didn’t know anything about the shooting and never left his condo. Police said they have video evidence that proves otherwise.
A Baldwin County grand jury will now review the case.
Tate remains in jail on a $200,000 bond.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
Source Agencies
