ORANGE PARK, Fla. (Aug. 29, 2005) -- Former NFL safety Jarvis Williams was in stable condition after he was shot in the back Aug. 28 in a nightclub parking lot.
Williams, a former Florida player who spent 1988-93 with the Miami Dolphins and finished his NFL career in 1994 with the New York Giants, was running to safety when he was hit in the back, said Mary Justino, the Clay County Sheriff's office spokeswoman.
"He was not the intended victim," Justino said. "He pretty much got hit by a stray bullet."
The 40-year-old Williams was taken to Shands Jacksonville with a collapsed lung after the bullet went into his back, through his lung and lodged in his shoulder, Justino said.
James Poitier had been fighting with two other men in the parking lot when he brandished the weapon and shot Williams, Justino said.
After initially fleeing the scene, Poitier turned himself in later. He was charged with aggravated assault and was being held at Clay County Jail.
