In the early hours of a Tuesday morning in Atmore, Alabama, the life of 17-year-old Gabriel Elijah Hooks was tragically cut short. On June 24, 2025, amidst the lingering echoes of an illegal street race, gunfire erupted on Carver Avenue, near 18th Avenue. Hooks, a former football standout at Escambia County High School, was caught in the barrage of over 50 shots that rang out after the race had concluded and money was being exchanged.
He was transported by a private vehicle to Atmore Community Hospital, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries. A 20-year-old woman was also struck by multiple bullets but survived with non-life-threatening injuries.
The investigation into the shooting led to a series of arrests as law enforcement pieced together the events of that fatal morning. The first to be taken into custody was 22-year-old Tyler Hall of Evergreen, who was charged with murder and attempted murder. Soon after, 24-year-old Javarius Watkins, also from Evergreen, surrendered to authorities and faced a murder charge. The investigation continued to unfold, leading to the arrests of four more individuals from Atmore: 20-year-old Exavion Bradley, 19-year-old Kcarheem McKenzie, 18-year-old Timothy Sanders, and a 17-year-old juvenile. Bradley and Sanders were former football teammates of Hooks. All six suspects faced charges of murder and attempted murder in connection with the shooting that killed Hooks and injured the young woman.
As investigators delved deeper, they uncovered a link between the suspects and a prior, unsolved shooting. Evidence gathered in the homicide investigation implicated Bradley, McKenzie, Sanders, and the juvenile in a shooting that occurred on Halloween night of 2024. In that incident, multiple houses, some of which were occupied, and several vehicles were riddled with bullets. This discovery led to a slew of additional charges for the four Atmore suspects, including multiple counts of attempted murder and discharging a firearm into occupied and unoccupied dwellings and vehicles. The complex investigation also resulted in the arrest of Jalen Pugh, a 24-year-old staff member at Escambia County High School. Pugh was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after admitting to being present at the scene of the fatal shooting. All the suspects in the murder of Gabriel Hooks were held in the Escambia County Detention Center as the legal process against them commenced.
