BELLE GLADE — On Thursday, Aug. 10, Khayne Bullard, a 16-year-old from Belle Glade, was charged with two counts of attempted first degree murder with a firearm.

On June 20, at approximately 3:14 p.m., Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO) deputies were dispatched to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 669 S.W. 16th St., in regards to multiple 911 calls about a shooting that had just occurred.

After the scene was secured, deputies located 19 spent 9mm shell casings at the rear end of the parking lot and 10 spent 9mm shell casings at the northwest corner of the building. They also discovered that multiple occupied and unoccupied vehicles had been struck from the gunfire.

Deputies then reviewed Kingdom Hall’s surveillance footage which had captured the incident. The video footage shows three subjects, two males and one female, walking on foot at 3:12 p.m. along the south side of a canal that is just south of the Kingdom Hall building. One of the subjects was later identified as 16-year-old Khayne Bullard who is allegedly a member of the Nawfway gang. The video shows a black Cadillac approach and then turn into the Kingdom Hall parking lot where it parks at the far east portion. At that point Bullard runs and positions himself behind the northwest corner of the building facing the Cadillac. The driver and front seat passenger of the Cadillac exit the vehicle and attempt to take cover behind the vehicle. Bullard then brandishes a black semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine and he and the two victims from the vehicle begin shooting at each other.

After the shooting, the two subjects that were seen walking with Bullard ran southbound along S.W. 16th Street. Bullard also runs southbound on S.W. 16th Street. but then runs eastbound along the canal just south of the Kingdom Hall. The Cadillac is seen traveling west through the parking lot and then north on S.W. 16th Street.

While detectives were still investigating, the two subjects that surveillance captured on foot with Bullard, returned to the crime scene. Sworn recorded interviews were conducted with both subjects separately. One of the subjects was able to identify Bullard but both claimed not to know who the people in the Cadillac were or why Bullard was shooting at them.

The two victims in the Cadillac were later identified and interviewed. The driver of the vehicle explained that they had encountered Bullard earlier in the day on the day of the shooting at Pioneer Park Aquatic Center. They observed Bullard with two other males, one of which was wearing a mask, and noticed that they were carrying firearms. Both of the males seen with Bullard are also suspected of being Nawfway gang members.

Bullard reportedly began to approach the victims and the victims were afraid they were going to be shot. The victims drove out of the park and made a stop in a nearby neighborhood known as the “subs,” just south of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and as they were leaving the neighborhood they observed Bullard walking with two individuals but they were not the same individuals he was with at the aquatic center. One of the victims states that as they drove by, Bullard lifted his jacket and started to pull his firearm as if he were going to shoot. Due to the traffic in front of him, the victim driving the Cadillac states that it was at that point that he pulled into the parking lot of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses to try and get away. The driver stated that he exited the vehicle with a firearm and that was when he heard the first shot. The driver reports that the passenger of the Cadillac was already out of the vehicle with his own firearm and had began returning fire at Bullard. According to the driver Bullard stopped shooting and began advancing on them, which was when he began shooting at Bullard. After the shooting both victims entered the Cadillac and traveled north on S.W. 16th Street.

The passenger of the Cadillac was interviewed separately and he corroborated the details of the driver’s story. Both victims state that the male and female subjects seen walking with Bullard on the surveillance video had no involvement in the shooting. A detective presented the passenger of the Cadillac with a photo array containing a photo of Bullard and the passenger was able to identify Bullard as the person who shot at him and the driver.

A search warrant was obtained to review Bullard’s social media records which contained evidence related to the shooting. The records contained a video of Bullard wearing the same clothing the shooter in the surveillance video was wearing that had been posted to social media nine days prior to the shooting. Bullard had also posted a video of himself holding a black-semi automatic pistol inserted with an extended magazine which is consistent with the firearm used in the shooting. This video was taken just one day prior to the shooting.

A detective attempted to interview Bullard at PBSO District 5 substation where he and other Nawfway gang members were being held on charges for burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and resisting arrest without violence but Bullard invoked his right to legal counsel.

Based on the evidence obtained during the investigation enough probable cause existed to charge Bullard with two counts of attempted first degree murder with a firearm and he was charged on Thursday, Aug. 10.