On August 17, 2024, a fatal shooting outside Mermaids Lounge in Spring Hill, Florida, left 33-year-old Willie Joe Frazier Jr dead. The incident began inside the bar when Frazier accidentally bumped into 35-year-old Joshua Howard. Howard left, waited outside, then confronted Frazier when he exited a few minutes later. After a brief exchange Frazier walked away and then appeared to punch Howard; surveillance video shows Howard responded by producing a handgun and shooting Frazier multiple times.

Howard attempted to flee on foot but apparently shot himself in the side while trying to tuck the gun into his waistband. Deputies from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office stopped him outside a nearby business; he was treated at a trauma center under guard and was to be taken to the Pasco County Jail after release. Howard has been charged with second-degree murder with a firearm and was already facing June 2024 felony charges for driving without a valid license and fleeing or attempting to elude.

Did anyone see what happened outside Mermaids Lounge that night or have video that hasn’t been released?