Six jailed; 4 charged in Oct. shooting
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Atmore police have now arrested six individuals — two from Evergreen, four from Atmore — in connection with the June 24 shooting death of former Escambia County High School (ECHS) football standout Gabriel Hooks and the wounding of an unidentified female.
Two of the suspects currently under lock and key are former teammates of the murder victim.
The most recent arrests were of 20-year-old Exavion Bradley, 19-year-old Kcarheem McKenzie, Timothy Sanders, 18, and a 17-year-old juvenile, all from Atmore. Each of the suspects remained in the Escambia County Detention Center (ECDC) or in the custody of juvenile authorities early Tuesday, July 1.
According to the jail’s website, Bradley — a 2024 ECHS graduate who shined as a defensive end and linebacker for the Blue Devils — is charged with one count each of murder, attempted murder and discharging a firearm into an unoccupied school bus.
Sanders, a 2025 ECHS graduate who was a running back and linebacker for the team, is charged with one count each of murder, attempted murder, discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling and discharging a firearm into an unoccupied dwelling.
McKenzie, the only female arrested so far, is charged with one count each of murder, attempted murder, shooting into an occupied dwelling and shooting into an unoccupied dwelling.
The 17-year-old, who will be charged as an adult and whose name has not been released, is charged with one count each of murder and attempted murder, according to police reports.
The first arrests in the case came when two Evergreen men — Tyler Hall, 22, and Javarius Watkins, 24 — surrendered a few days apart to sheriff’s investigators at the county jail. Hall is charged with one count each of murder and attempted murder; Watkins is charged with a single count of murder.
Both men remained in the ECDC early Tuesday.
According to police reports, a group of people, including the 17-year-old Hooks, met around 1:30 a.m. on Carver Avenue, near 18th Avenue, after an illegal street race. Gunfire erupted almost immediately after the winners collected their money.
Police reported the recovery of more than 50 spent shell casings around the murder scene.
Hooks and the wounded female were taken by private vehicle to Atmore Community Hospital, where Hooks later died. The female was flown from ACH to an area trauma center with injuries that were not believed to be life threatening. She reportedly remained hospitalized Tuesday morning.
Police got a bonus when their homicide investigation turned up evidence that put the four Atmore suspects at the scene of a Halloween-night (October 31, 2024) incident during which four houses, including two in which the families were inside, were shot into on 4th Avenue. Bullets were also fired into three vehicles. The shooters left dozens of spent shell casings from weapons of several different calibers on the ground around the shooting sites.
Due to the new evidence, Bradley, Sanders, McKenzie and the juvenile were also charged with five additional counts of attempted murder, two additional counts of discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling, two additional counts of discharging a firearm into an unoccupied dwelling, and three counts of discharging a firearm into an unoccupied vehicle.
McMann said police are continuing their investigation into the case, and more arrests could be forthcoming, although all the major players are now behind bars.
“Two of them were picked up at home, and two of them turned themselves in while we were looking for them,” said McMann. “There could be other arrests, but no major charges.”