Bernard Carter was a 21-year-old Black man from Gainesville, Florida, who was shot on the evening of March 24, 2024. He arrived at a family member’s apartment at the Lewis Place Apartments on Northeast 15th Street at about 6:50 p.m. and told relatives he had been shot. Carter was taken to a local hospital and died from his injuries several days later.

The Gainesville Police Department initially treated the case as a homicide and asked the public for help locating an outside assailant. Family members at the scene gave misleading accounts, and detectives pursued that line of inquiry for weeks. After an anonymous tip and additional interviews, investigators concluded the shooting was accidental: a toddler in the apartment found an unsecured handgun that discharged and struck Carter. Police say adults in the home knew what happened and misled officers, and that the deception prevented the toddler and two other juveniles who witnessed the shooting from receiving crisis-related services.

Arrest warrants were issued for Carter’s mother, Lawanda Wade, 50, and his brother, Quante Whitaker, 29. Wade was arrested April 17, 2024, and held on a $30,000 bond; Whitaker was arrested April 20, 2024. Does anyone have information about the Lewis Place Apartments on Northeast 15th Street or about the people who were present that evening?