Police Begin Investigation into Aaron Hernandez and 2007 Gainesville Shooting

August 18, 2011; Tampa, FL, USA; New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez (81) reacts after he scored a touchdown during the first quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Hernandez is sitting in jail right now after being charged with murder, but police have begun digging into his past to see if he is connected to other cases.

Hernandez has already allegedly been linked to a double murder that took place in Boston in 2012.

Now police have a new investigation opening.

This time it’s a shooting that occurred back in 2007 in the Gainesville area, a time when Hernandez would have been a student athlete at the University of Florida.

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk has the details:

"A witness to the shooting does not identify Hernandez by name, but the witness said the shooter was a “‘Hawaiian’ or ‘Hispanic’ male who had a large muscular build, stood about 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4, weighed about 230 or 240 pounds and had a lot of tattoos.”Here’s the relevant portion of the police report: ”As they were waiting for the light to change, the Hawaiian football player and Reggie Nelson walked up to their car on the right side. Then without saying a work [sic], the Hawaiian pointed a small handgun in the front right window and fired five quick shots. [Randall] Cason saw [Corey] Smith slump over with blood coming out of the back of the head, at which time the Hawaiian and Nelson took off running towards McDonald’s.”"

Hernandez was only 17 at the time. We’re a long way off from knowing whether or not he was involved with this altercation that took place. Right now there is plenty to focus on with the two allegations being thrown his way, but keep it locked here as we’ll keep you up to date on the status of this one as well.

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