Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – John Caleb Allen, 26, of Bristol, Florida, who was previously arrested on July 24, 2025, has been indicted for two counts of attempted murder of a federal employee, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a federal law enforcement officer, two counts of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, two counts of illegal possession of a machine gun, and one count of false statement to a federal firearm licensee in connection with a firearms purchase. The charges were announced today by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
Court documents allege that, on July 24, 2025, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, with the assistance of the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, were executing a federal search warrant at the subject’s residence when Allen opened fire on law enforcement. After firing multiple rounds at the agents, Allen was arrested without the agents discharging their weapons. Agents suffered minor, non-critical injuries as a result of the assault.
Allen is scheduled for arraignment before United States Magistrate Judge Martin A. Fitzpatrick August 8, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. at the Federal Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida.
If convicted, Allen faces a maximum possible penalty of life imprisonment.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are investigating the case. Assistant United States Attorney James A. McCain is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline ) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.