No Prison Time for Man Who Shot at Gainesville Regional Utilities Employees
Carleton Beck Renshaw, 44, was convicted of firing a weapon into a building Thursday and sentenced to five years of probation, court records show.
Facing up to 15 years in prison, Renshaw pleaded no contest in a deal with prosecutors that was accepted by Judge James Colaw.
Renshaw will be required to complete a residential treatment program at Meridian Healthcare and he will remain in the Alachua County Jail until placement.
Renshaw was initially facing seven counts of aggravated assault, but all were dropped by the State Attorney’s Office in January.
On December 11, 2024, seven Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) employees arrived at Renshaw's residence to change his meter and discovered a gas leak, the arrest report states.
The employees fixed Renshaw’s gas leak and began walking back to their trucks when he fired a shot in their direction from a bathroom window. One of the employees yelled they were leaving the property, and Renshaw fired a second shot. The employees all ran away from the scene, some having to jump a fence to escape.
Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officers were in the area and responded after hearing the gunshots. Officers surrounded Renshaw’s house and ordered him to come out over a loudspeaker. They obtained a search warrant and found Renshaw sleeping in his bedroom surrounded by several empty liquor bottles.
Officers located two shell casings near the bathroom window, which had two bullet holes. They found a handgun between the mattress and bedframe where Renshaw was sleeping.
One of the employees told officers he left a note on Renshaw’s doorknob the day before the incident to notify him of the meter change. He said the note was no longer on the door when he arrived at the residence, indicating Renshaw received it. He said they tried knocking on Renshaw’s doors and waving at his cameras before entering his residence but received no response.
Renshaw’s probation will require him to not own any firearms or reside in any place where guns could be found. He will be subject to random drug testing along with several other conditions.
