The shock over the shooting of February 16 had not yet died down, when Putnam County deputies were once again called to the poker tables on April 17.

The story went as follows according to Sheriff’s Maj. Keith Riddick. I live in Florida and it's amazing how many shootings there have been lately.

At 11.30 p.m. Freeman G.Turner was playing poker with friends at 101 Carole Road in Palatka. A man broke down the front door and entered brandishing a gun. He first hurled abuses at the players and then fired two shots. Turner was hit in the hip and the bullet remained lodged in his body. The players somehow escaped. A friend received some cuts on his wrist as he escaped through the window. They went to Turner’s home and got a neighbor to help.

Turner was taken to Shands Hospital in Gainesville at the University of Florida by plane. Next day his condition was reported as stable. Turner is 45 years old and a resident of Palatka. The shooter is still at large. But he has been described as a black male in his 30s. The weapon could be either a 9 mm or an assault rifle. Conclusive bullet tests would take a few weeks. No other details of the shooter are available. Anyone having any information has been asked to get in touch with the Putnam County Sheriff’s office. Anonymity is assured and there is a $1,000 reward. There was one witness to the shooting who hid in the closet while the event took place.

The craziest thing about this shooting is that Turner was involved in the February shooting at well. Officials however indicate that this is a mere coincidence. There is absolutely no evidence to connect the two shootings despite the presence of Turner in both of them. In the February shooting Turner had discovered the bodies of three men. These men had been shot in an all-night poker game on Carver Street in the north area of Palatka. In this case the suspected killer has been arrested and is awaiting trial on three charges of first-degree murder.

This man is Duane Demaris Crittenden II aged 28 and a resident of Palatka. Crittenden claimed that he was being cheated during the poker game. The three dead men were Jerome Anthony Henry, Richard David Smith and Robert Erwin Ford. They were killed inside a former bar that was being used for a high-stakes poker game. Crittenden lost heavily and felt he had been cheated. Therefore he returned next morning to confront the other three players. The killing took place at around 9.30 in the morning. Henry and Smith were shot once each in the head and Ford was shot twice and also stabbed. Crittenden then vamoosed with the money from the game, which has been estimated at $9,000. Crittenden was found after an all night manhunt in Marion County with some of the money on him.

Crittenden has a long criminal record with 18 felony convictions in Florida and Georgia. However none of the charges involved violence. They were crimes like fraud and forgery.