Deputies arrested an armed man accused of threatening multiple Villagers during attempted carjackings on Wednesday night.
The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office received multiple 911 calls reporting an armed man attempting to enter vehicles at the Walgreens and nearby at the Colony Cottage Recreation Center on Colony Boulevard around 8:17 p.m. Wednesday night.
When deputies arrived, they quickly identified the suspect as Christopher Alan Grant, 48, of Pensacola, brandishing a firearm and threatening civilians nearby.
During the incident, Grant discharged a firearm into an occupied vehicle, pointed the weapon at multiple victims, and attempted to carjack multiple people, according to a press release from the sheriff’s department.
Deputies took Grant into custody without further incident. Grant was found to be in possession of a loaded FN Herstal 9mm pistol.
Through the investigation, detectives determined several victims were assaulted at gunpoint and forcibly moved against their will.
Grant, a convicted felon, was found to be out of compliance with required felony registration.
He has been charged with seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of battery, two counts of armed carjacking, one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle, one count of criminal mischief over $1,000, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and one count of failure to register as a felon.
Grant is currently housed at the Sumter County Detention Center with no bail.