A federal jury has convicted a Villager of charges related to a shooting incident in 2016 at the VA Outpatient Clinic in The Villages.
Stephen Cometa, 62, was convicted on Dec. 13 of forcibly assaulting and resisting federal employees with a deadly and dangerous weapon and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announced last week.
The former Village of Chatham resident, who was indicted on Dec. 21, 2016, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the assault and resisting charges, and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years – and up to life – in prison for discharging the firearm during a crime of violence. His sentencing hearing has not yet been set.
An investigation showed that Cometa entered the clinic on Dec. 13, 2016 carrying a loaded AR-15 assault rifle, a concealed handgun and hundreds of rounds of extra ammunition for both firearms. Cometa walked through the clinic to a VA psychiatrist’s office, interrupted an ongoing treatment session and pointed the assault rifle at the psychologist as he opened the door, court records show.
The psychiatrist, as well as a VA contractor and two VA police officers, struggled with Cometa for control of the rifle and eventually subdued him. During the struggle, Cometa fired the assault rifle, shooting holes in the walls, ceiling and furniture.
“Thanks to the quick-thinking and brave actions of the VA clinic staff and patients to protect themselves and others, a potential tragedy was avoided and lives were saved,” Charles P. Spencer, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division, said shortly after the incident.
In addition to the FBI, the case was investigated by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Veterans Affairs Police Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys William S. Hamilton and Robert E. Bodnar Jr.
Prior to the shooting incident at the clinic, located at 8900 SE 165th Mulberry Lane just off SE Hwy. 42, Cometa appeared to have gone through some personal upheaval. On his Facebook page, he had indicated he was from Rochester, N.Y. and attended West Irondequoit High School. He and his wife, who had lived in a home on Bellhaven Loop in the Village of Chatham, had been granted a divorce in Marion County just days before the shooting. And it appears that he also had lost a beloved pet.
“My cat Roxy went over the rainbow bridge Monday 11/7/16, after 20 years of companionship, till i see you again,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
On Oct. 13, 2015, Cometa also sent the following email to Villages-News.com:
Yes guns fire bullets, Who is operating firings mechanism?
How do you stop illegal gun trafficking?
These questions need to be answered !
In a society where killing people that jumps back to life in video games are the normal?
Media GLORIFIES mass murders, and empathize with the cause of these criminals?
War’s are now being FOUGHT and WON in the Media , not on the battlefield?
Ware is America’s future headed ?
The military tactics that the GREATEST GENERATION used are not acceptable to the American people of today ?
YES THE EMPEROR HAS NEW CLOTHES !
Thanks.
Steve Cometa.