18-year-old arrested in connection to drive-by shooting near Fort Myers apartments

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Jarret Lane Nowling, 18. Credit: Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

Two separate scenes are both connected to a drive-by shooting with injuries near Jones Walker Apartments in Fort Myers Thursday.

A man was seen being put in handcuffs in the Suncoast Estates community of North Fort Myers, and law enforcement had guns drawn on another man on Business 41 in North Fort Myers as well.

Fort Myers Police Department confirmed suspect Jarret Lane Nowling, 18, was the man arrested during a traffic stop on BUS 41. He is now in custody at Lee County Jail and faces charges for aggravated battery (causing bodily harm or disability) and aggravated assault (with a deadly weapon without intent to kill).

Police say the shooting happened on Blount Street near the apartments, where a woman was shot in the leg and is reportedly in stable condition. Witnesses say she was pregnant, but that is not confirmed by police at this time.

It was a chaotic scene during the response to the suspect on BUS 41, but it was calm Thursday night.

“It was pretty crazy,” Trey Millican said. “There were like 15 guns or so pointed out, about 30 cop cars, and then, we watched the kid get out of the car and had to walk backwards all the way to the cops, and then, they let the canines out. It was just crazy.”

After that, Millican picked up right where he left off and finished getting his tattoo at a nearby shop. Millican saw the scene unfold from the local business.

“It just didn’t feel real. It felt like a joke, like a prank,” Millican said. “But like it was real.”

Police took that man, confirmed to be Nowling, into custody. That scene is connected to the drive-by shooting that happened four miles away near the Jones Walker Apartments.

Police told us a woman was shot in the leg and rushed to the hospital. Royal Palms Exceptional School was on lockdown for hours while police investigated.

“It was kind of like a shock. We were like, ‘Wow, we haven’t had that in a while,” Girald Jackson said. “We’re praying for her family though.”

Police also have a suspect into custody from the scene at Suncoast Estates. We’re working to find out if the person put in handcuffs there is also arrested for the drive-by shooting.

Anyone with information about this investigation can call Fort Myers Police Department at at 239-321-7700.

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