Victim identified in Lazy Gators homicide

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. (KMIZ)

UPDATE:

The Camden County Sheriffs Office released the name of the victim and located the third person of interest in relation to the Saturday night Lazy Gators homicide.

Twenty-seven year old Vonza Watson of Jefferson City was shot and killed around 11 p.m on Saturday night at a bar in the Lake of the Ozarks.

ORIGINAL:

Neighbors and patrons at the Lake of the Ozarks explain the moments after a shooting took place at Lazy Gators Saturday night.

The Camden County Sheriff's Office said in a press release that a 27-year-old black male died at the scene. They received a reference to shots fired call at 10:50 p.m. Saturday.

When officers arrived on scene, they found the victim, who had been shot. EMS took the victim to Lake Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Two of the three suspects have been arrested.

Patrick Mcevoy, a nearby neighbor living at Aqua Fin Condominiums, said last night he came out on his balcony after hearing sirens in the distance to find water patrol heading towards Lazy Gators.

"A whole group of people were streaming up the street from Shady Gators and coming right out here in front of my balcony and they were yelling that somebody shot somebody at Shady Gators," said Mcevoy.

Abtin Babaei is visiting the lake this weekend and claimed to be at the scene last night.

"I grabbed two slices of pizza and I hear someone arguing and I turned around when a man pulls out a gun. He shoots his twice, maybe three times, as soon as I heard the first shot I dropped my pizza and started running," said Babaei. He described the situation as "an altercation for no reason."

From Mcevoy's view on his balcony, he saw people running up different sides of the street trying to get out of the area. Babaei said from down inside Lazy Gators, everyone was trying to flee the area as fast as possible when the cops showed up.

As people were trying to get out of the area, Mcevoy said there were traffic jams. "Fire engines were here to block the street and nobody could go so the entire street was filled with people and cars," said Mcevoy.

Babaei said with one person still not in custody, he was surprised to see everyone still partying in the area today.

Lazy Gator opened two hours later on Saturday due to the incident.

The names of the victims and the suspects have not yet been released.