At Mayor D.C. Reeves morning press conference, Police Chief Eric Winstrom briefed the media on the latest developments in the shooting of Phillip “PJ” Sheppard and reassured the public that the Pensacola Police Department will have a strong presence for Friday’s Gallery Night on South Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola.
- “We are 10 days now into the investigation of the murder of Philip Sheppard Jr.,” Winstrom said. “As we announced on Monday, sixteen-year-old Kanye Walker has been charged with handing the gun to Nicholas Safford.”
Yesterday, Safford was denied bond for his role in the July 4th weekend incident that led to six other individuals receiving non-fatal gunshot wounds.
- “As you saw in testimony provided by a detective on scene, PJ’s hands were in the air right before he was killed,” the police chief said. “The motive is something as petty as disrespect. There’s no explanation that’s going to make sense for the family of Philip Sheppard Jr., but we know that his mom and those who love him are looking for those answers.”
Winstrom assured the public that 10 days into the investigation, the detectives every single day have been putting so much effort into this. He added, “You can see from the video released yesterday in the bond hearing, the complexity of the investigation when there are so many individuals out there, some of whom were armed with handguns.”
He thanked ATF and other federal partners for help in dealing with the complexity in the forensic evidence. “We’re making real progress in getting those answers for this family.”
Gallery Night Safety
Gallery Night will take place as planned on Friday, July 17, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. It will be the first Gallery Night event on the new Palafox since December 2025.
- “Palafox between Main and Garden will be closed off,” said Winstrom. “We’re going to have a very large police presence there. We have no information that there’s going to be any security issues whatsoever.”
He continued, “I myself am excited to be down there on Friday, and we’re looking forward to a very safe event.”