Florida man sentenced to 15 years in prison for Buffalo Wild Wings shooting

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Florida man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for shooting a man in the face at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Columbia.

Alexis Gonzalez, 38, of Orlando, was convicted in March of second-degree assault and armed criminal action in the Aug. 17, 2024, shooting of Gary Bitsicas at the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant on Nifong Boulevard in Columbia.

Prosecutors originally charged Gonzalez with first-degree assault, which has a maximum sentence of 30 years. The jury convicted him instead of the lesser offense of second-degree assault. Judge Stephanie Morrell went with the jury's recommendation of sentencing Gonzalez to seven years for the assault charge and eight years for armed criminal action.

The sentences will be served back-to-back, for a total of 15 years.

The state argued that Gonzalez went back into a restaurant with a gun and the intention to harm Bitsicas after an argument outside over a bar tab. Gonzalez claimed he was acting in self-defense and in defense of his girlfriend. Gonzalez expressed his regret one final time on the stand as jurors considered their recommendations.

His defense lawyer said at Monday's sentencing hearing that Gonzalez accepts his responsibility for the shooting. But the state said his argument of self-defense proved that he didn't accept culpability for the shooting.