Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Calixta Mireya Lara, 30, of Stockbridge, GA, has been taken into custody on three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer; Lara was shot by an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy on January 8 during a well-being check.
Deputies responded to the LaQuinta Hotel at 908 NW 69th Terrace on January 8 after hotel staff requested a well-being check on Lara, who was supposed to check out of the hotel on January 6 but told staff on that date that she was too sick to leave her room; hotel staff had been unable to make contact with her since that date, and the door of her hotel room was locked from inside with a deadbolt.
Deputies reportedly knocked on the door and made verbal announcements, but there was no response. Because Lara had said she was sick, the decision was made to force entry to make sure there was no medical emergency. When deputies entered, they reportedly found the bathroom door locked, and a handgun holster and a spent shell casing were found on the bed; a single bullet hole was seen in the curtain and on a window.