Florida man accused of shooting teens hides in attic, falls through ceiling

20-year-old bursts pipe, floods condo as police serve arrest warrant

Booking photo of Justus Harp

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man accused of shooting two teenagers last month burst a pipe in the attic and fell through a bathroom ceiling covered in insulation when investigators showed up last Thursday to arrest him at his family's condo, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.

Justus Milan Harp, 20, is charged with two counts of attempted murder in the shooting of a pair of teenagers in March in the parking lot of the Courtney Manor Apartments on Collins Road in Ortega Hills.

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Police said two friends, ages 18 and 16, were seriously injured in the shooting and two vehicles and an apartment unit were damaged by stray bullets.

Officers went to Harp's condominium complex last Thursday to serve a warrant on the attempted murder charges and at first, couldn't find him inside the unit, according to his arrest report.

His mother, his 13-year-old sister and a 19-year-old woman were in the Baymeadows Road condo.

Police said Harp's mother admitted he was in the unit when the officers came back a second time. After the two women and the girl were safely out of the unit, a K-9 team came in and officers found an entrance to the attic in a bedroom closet, the report said.

One of the officers spotted Harp hiding under a pile of insulation when he reached up to grab onto a PVC pipe. Harp then fell through the ceiling and the pipe burst, sending water gushing into the condo below, police said.

An officer took Harp, who was covered with insulation, into custody, police said.

Harp is being held on a $1 million bond.

Florida Department of Corrections records show Harp was on drug offender probation for a trio of November 2017 charges out of Clay County.