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Citrus County bar employee shot, killed
Kailey Tracy reports
CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. - The Citrus County Sheriff's Office is investigating a deadly early-morning shooting at a popular restaurant in Crystal River.
Deputies were called to Norton's Riverside Bar and Grill around 1:25 a.m. Friday for reports of a shooting.
When they got to the scene, they found Edward James Bennis, 26, in the parking lot with several gunshot wounds, the Sheriff’s Office said. Despite lifesaving measures, Bennis died at the scene.
Courtesy: Citrus County Sheriff's Office
Witnesses told deputies Gabriel Hugh Trainor, 24, had gotten into an altercation with another person inside the bar that continued to the front patio. Bennis, an employee at the bar, tried to stop the argument. Trainor went to his car, and several minutes later, Bennis went back outside and continued to argue with Trainor who then shot Bennis several times, according to deputies.
"This is a tragic incident. My condolences go out to the family of Mr. Bennis," Sheriff Mike Prendergast said. "Unfortunately, arguments too often turn violent when alcohol is involved. Trainor not only made the decision to take another man's life but also endangered other citizens with his reckless discharge of a firearm."
"I could hear the gunshots through the phone," Caydience Bond, whose mom is the bar manager at Norton’s, said.
"She called me screaming and crying on the phone saying that Eddie got shot," Bond said.
Bond’s mom and Bennis were closing the restaurant.
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"Eddie was staying after waiting for my mom to get off, so she wasn’t there by herself," she said.
Bond said Bennis walked out the back door and was shot several times.
"He told my mom that he was just going to the car and that he would be back, and then he opened the door, and that's when she heard the gunshots," Bond said. "I just wish I could tell him to reverse time, to not go outside. It’s very heartbreaking seeing how he lost his life trying to save my mom and other people."
Bond also worked with Bennis when he worked at Waterfront Social, a restaurant not too far from Norton’s. Bond and others said Bennis was an extremely hard worker, a friend to many and the most genuine person they’d ever met.
"He was always he was always there for other people no matter who it was. It didn't matter if he knew you or not. If you were in the wrong or right, Eddie would still be there just to have your back to make sure nothing happened," she said.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Trainor was standing over the Bennis when deputies arrived. Trainor was arrested on a second-degree murder charge and is being held without bond at the Citrus County Detention Facility.