Gainesville Double Shooting: Man Charged After 2 Killed on West University Avenue

Two people were shot dead in the early hours of Sunday morning in Gainesville, Florida, and a 29-year-old man who was arrested at the scene has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Gainesville police officers who were already patrolling the area heard gunshots at about 4 a.m. on November 1 in the 1100 block of West University Avenue, near the University of Florida, and within minutes found two victims with gunshot wounds and detained the man now accused of killing them.

Key Points

• Two people were killed in a shooting at about 4 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2026, in the 1100 block of West University Avenue in Gainesville, Florida.
• Trevez Ravell McRae, 29, of Gainesville, was arrested at the scene and charged with two counts of first-degree homicide, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and resisting an officer without violence.
• One victim was found near the corner of West University Avenue and Northwest 10th Street and the other outside 1010 West University Avenue; both were taken to UF Health Shands Hospital and pronounced dead there.
• According to the arrest report, McRae told police he had been with friends at the Kava Lounge, and said he shot the second victim because that person had been fighting with his friend.
• The victims' identities have not been released in the sources checked, and the charges against McRae are accusations only; he is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

What Happened

The shooting happened in Midtown Gainesville, a busy commercial strip of bars, restaurants and shops close to the University of Florida campus, in the hours after Saturday night's closing time. At about 3:59 a.m. on Sunday, Gainesville Police Department officers patrolling the area of 1100 West University Avenue heard gunshots. Responding officers saw a man, later identified as Trevez Ravell McRae, running from the parking lot of the Chevron petrol station at 1024 West University Avenue. According to the arrest report, an officer saw McRae drop a handgun as he ran; after dropping the gun, McRae surrendered to officers.

Other officers found the victims nearby. The first was on the ground at the south-west corner of West University Avenue and Northwest 10th Street, with at least one gunshot wound, and was unresponsive. The second was found unresponsive outside 1010 West University Avenue, also with at least one gunshot wound. Officers gave aid until ambulances arrived, and both victims were taken to UF Health Shands Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. Police asked the public to avoid the area while officers and investigators remained on the scene through Sunday morning, and later that day the department updated its release to confirm McRae's arrest and charges.

The arrest report, as summarised by the Gainesville Sun and the Alachua Chronicle, gives an account of the moments before the shooting. After giving a Miranda warning, officers recorded that McRae said he had been out with friends at the Kava Lounge at 1007 West University Avenue, and that after the venue closed, he and his friends were on the north side of the intersection of West University Avenue and Northwest 10th Street. The report states that McRae and one of the victims backed away from each other before McRae pulled a gun from his waistband and fired two shots at that victim. McRae told police he shot the second victim because that person had been fighting with his friend, the report states. Surveillance video is reported to show McRae, wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey, with arm tattoos visible, as the man who ran from officers and was detained.

Background and Context

West University Avenue is one of Gainesville's main east-west routes and the heart of its Midtown entertainment district, running past the University of Florida campus and lined with late-night venues. The Kava Lounge, the Chevron station, and the intersection with Northwest 10th Street all sit within a few hundred feet of each other, which is why officers on routine patrol were close enough to hear the shots and reach the scene within minutes. The location also explains why the case drew immediate local attention: a double homicide in a crowded, well-lit commercial area, in the early hours of a weekend, in a city where the university community and the wider town share the same streets.

The Alachua Chronicle reported that Sunday was a violent day in Gainesville beyond this one incident, with at least three shootings in the city that day, in addition to a man shot the previous night at Majestic Oaks on Southwest 20th Avenue. The Chronicle's reporting does not link those other shootings to the West University Avenue case, and this article does not suggest any connection. But the wider picture matters for residents: the West University double homicide was not the only gun violence Gainesville police dealt with that weekend, and investigators were working several scenes at once.

McRae's history, as set out in the Chronicle's reporting on the arrest, includes a juvenile record between 2012 and 2014, two adult felony convictions described as non-violent, and two misdemeanour convictions described as violent. He served one state prison sentence for unlawfully carrying a concealed firearm and was released in 2019. In 2024 he was arrested after two handguns, one fitted with a Glock switch, were found in the glove compartment of a car he was driving; he denied ownership of the guns, the gun charges were later dropped, and he is on probation in that case for fleeing from law enforcement. That probation status is part of why the new firearm charge — possession of a firearm by a convicted felon — carries particular weight in this case, although the underlying homicide charges are by far the most serious.

Gainesville Double Shooting: The Charges and What Comes Next

McRae faces two counts of first-degree homicide, the Florida charge for premeditated murder, along with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and resisting an officer without violence. First-degree murder is the most serious homicide charge in Florida law, and a conviction can carry a sentence of life in prison or, in cases where prosecutors seek it and the law allows, the death penalty; no charging decision on that question has been reported in the sources checked, and prosecutors have not been quoted on their intentions. The resisting charge, without violence, reflects the reported flight from officers before McRae surrendered.

Several things remain unknown at this stage, and they are the questions investigators and, in time, the courts will have to answer. The victims have not been named in the sources checked, and no motive beyond the account attributed to McRae in the arrest report has been published. Police have not said whether they believe the shooting was planned, whether the victims and McRae knew each other before that night, or whether any other person was involved. The arrest report's version of events is McRae's account as recorded by police after a Miranda warning, not a court finding, and it will be tested against the surveillance video, forensic evidence and witness accounts as the case proceeds.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Gainesville Police Department on 352-393-7700, or to remain anonymous by contacting Alachua County Crime Stoppers on 352-372-STOP (7867), through the P3 Tips app, or online at stopcrime.tv. That appeal, issued by the department in its original release, remains open even though an arrest has been made, because investigators routinely seek witnesses who may have seen the events before or after the shots were fired.

Reactions and Quotes

The Gainesville Police Department's own account of the case is deliberately short. Its release, issued on November 1 and updated at 3:45 p.m. that day, says only that the department was investigating a shooting in the area of 1100 West University Avenue at around 4 a.m., that officers and investigators remained on the scene, that the public was asked to avoid the immediate area, and then, in the update, that Trevez Ravell McRae, 29, had been arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree homicide, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and resisting an officer without violence. The department has not issued a longer statement in the sources checked, and no statement from McRae's lawyer or family has been reported.

Local reporting has filled in the detail from the arrest report rather than from new police statements. The Gainesville Sun's account, based on that report, is the source for the sequence of McRae running from the Chevron parking lot, dropping the handgun and surrendering, and for the account of the confrontation at the intersection. The Alachua Chronicle's account adds the background on McRae's record and the wider pattern of shootings in the city that day. Neither outlet reports any official comment on motive, and neither names the victims, which suggests the department has not yet released those details or the families have not yet been notified in a way that permits publication.

The restraint in the official account is normal at this stage of a homicide case: police must balance the public's need to know that a suspect is in custody against the risk of prejudicing a prosecution, and against the privacy of victims' families. The presumption of innocence applies with full force here: McRae has been charged, not convicted.

Why It Matters

This case matters to Gainesville for reasons that go beyond the two deaths, grievous as those are. A double homicide in Midtown, minutes from a major university, strikes at the sense of safety in a district that depends on students, visitors and late-night trade. It also arrives in a weekend of wider gun violence in the city, which will raise questions for residents and for the university about patrols, lighting, late-night venue security and the availability of firearms to people already on probation for firearms-related offences.

It also matters as a test of how quickly the justice system can move. An arrest at the scene, surveillance video, and a detailed arrest report give prosecutors a strong starting position, but the case will still have to survive the ordinary pressures of a homicide prosecution: witness cooperation, forensic confirmation, and the defence's right to challenge every element of the state's account, including the statements attributed to McRae after his Miranda warning. How the case proceeds — whether it goes to trial, ends in a plea, or is narrowed by pre-trial rulings — will be watched closely in a city that has already seen too many shooting headlines this autumn.

What Happens Next

The next steps are procedural but important. McRae will face formal court proceedings on the charges, at which he will enter pleas and a judge will address bail and custody. Prosecutors will decide whether to present the case to a grand jury for indictment on the first-degree homicide counts, and whether to seek any additional charges as the investigation continues. The victims' identities are expected to be released once families have been notified and police are satisfied that publication will not compromise the investigation.

Investigators will also continue to seek witnesses. The department's tip lines remain open, and anyone who was in the Midtown area in the early hours of Sunday — at the Kava Lounge, the Chevron station, or near the West University Avenue and Northwest 10th Street intersection — may hold information that helps establish the sequence of events. For now, the confirmed position is this: two people are dead, a 29-year-old man is charged with their murders, and the case is in the hands of the courts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where and when did the Gainesville shooting happen? At about 4 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2026, in the 1100 block of West University Avenue in Gainesville, Florida, near the University of Florida.

Who has been charged? Trevez Ravell McRae, 29, of Gainesville, charged with two counts of first-degree homicide, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and resisting an officer without violence. The charges are accusations, and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Who were the victims? Their identities have not been released in the sources checked. Both were taken to UF Health Shands Hospital and pronounced dead there.

What does the arrest report say happened? That officers patrolling the area heard gunshots, saw McRae run from the Chevron parking lot and drop a handgun before surrendering, and that McRae told police he had been with friends at the Kava Lounge and shot the second victim because that person had been fighting with his friend.

How can witnesses help? By contacting Gainesville police on 352-393-7700, or Alachua County Crime Stoppers anonymously on 352-372-STOP (7867), via the P3 Tips app, or online at stopcrime.tv.

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Sources: Gainesville Police Department release, November 1, 2026, as republished by the Alachua Chronicle (updated 3:45 p.m.); Gainesville Sun arrest-report account, November 1, 2026; Alachua Chronicle, November 1, 2026; Mainstreet Daily News, November 1, 2026. The featured image is an illustrative photograph of police tape and patrol cars on a commercial street at night, not a photograph of the West University Avenue scene. McRae's statements are as attributed to him in the arrest report, not court findings.