ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Apopka native and NFL player is at the center of an Orange County shooting investigation. Deputies want to interview New England Patriots defensive back Brandon Meriweather after two men were shot in front of an Apopka home less than two weeks ago.
RAW INTERVIEW: Shooting Victim's Dad Talks To WFTV
The Orange County Sheriff's Office said it has been in contact with Meriweather's attorney.
His attorney called the Sheriff's Office and said he could set up an interview with 27-year-old Meriweather to find out what happened the night of the shooting. However, his attorney has still not communicated with officers to do so.
Meriweather is accused of being present at a shooting that left two men, Quentin Taylor and Nico Stanley, hospitalized. It happened February 28 outside a home on West 17th Street near Apopka.
One of the men claims Meriweather pulled the trigger. But a relative of Meriweather who says he was there that night claims Meriweather was just trying to break up a fight at a club called Blue Jeans where one shot was fired, injuring both men.
Taylor's attorney, John Morgan, said the bullet went through Taylor's left cheek and the back of his head, resulting in minor injuries.
Investigators have questioned possible eyewitnesses and served a search warrant at the home where the shooting happened Thursday, but so far they have not spoken with Meriweather.
"We would like to talk to him," said Capt. Angelo Nieves, of the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Initially, the men didn't want to press charges, but Stanley's father said they have changed their minds.
"First he said he didn't want to press no charges because he didn't know who shot him," Glenn Stanley said. "All he knows is he was fighting and he got shot."
WFTV checked Taylor's criminal past and found he was arrested in January fon attempted sex battery and lewd and lascivious charges in Orange County.
Glenn Stanley said this case recently picked up steam because Taylor, who was shot in the head, was finally able to speak. He said Meriweather needs to do the same.
"He needs to speak up because he was there, he knows, just go with the investigation," Stanley said.
Meriweather, who played football at Apopka High School, was involved in a shooting when he played at the University of Miami, but he was not charged because police found he was acting in self-defense.
He was fined $50,000 last year for what the NFL called a flagrant, egregious, helmet-to-helmet hit on a Baltimore Ravens player.