Man arrested in drug deal shooting

TAMPA - Deputies have arrested a man accused of shooting another during a drug deal gone bad.

Just before 6 p.m. Sunday, Nathan Edward McReynolds, 32, of Valrico, was found at the Seminole Motel at 7200 N. Florida Ave., according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Deputies say he shot Troy Absher, 36, of Tampa, in the head on Saturday as Absher met McReynolds to buy drugs.

The two met in front of McReynolds home at 507 Murcott Place and spoke to each other while sitting in their cars. When the conversation escalated, McReynolds got out of his teal GMC conversion van, walked over to Absher's window, where he sat with his girlfriend, and shot him in the head.

McReynolds then drove away in his van. Absher was flown to Tampa General Hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

McReynolds has been charged with attempted murder with a firearm.

- Chandra Broadwater, Times staff writer