Pensacola Police Make Arrests in 4th of July Homicide and Shootings
By J. Thomas Wade
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
July 9, 2026
PENSACOLA, Fla. Police frustrated with the violence that occurred on the 4th of July in the downtown area announced that two people have been arrested, but that they are still searching for others.
Pensacola Police Chief Eric Winstrom said that Lillian Meyers and Nicholas Safford are facing multiple charges, but not homicide.
The Chief also said that three guns used in the shootings have also been recovered.
The victim killed has been identified as 19-year-old Phillip Devon Monte Sheppard Jr., known to friends and family as P.J.
Safford, 26, of Daphne is being held on charges of aggravated assault, weapons possession and firing a weapon.
After the shooting, Winstrom said Safford gave his gun to Lillian Meyers, 25, of Pensacola, who then fled the scene with it.
Now Meyers faces charges of public order crimes and obstructing justice.
The police chief that the arrests are good, but his investigators are tracking the shooters who are wanted for murder.
“We have also determined that there were at least three shooters involved in the incident,” Pensacola police spokesman Mike Wood said. “There has not been anyone charged in the homicide portion of the investigation as of today, but the investigation is proceeding.
Police also told me that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are involved with the investigation.
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