While hundreds of Muslims in Afghanistan protested a Florida pastor's plan to burn the Quran on the 9/11 anniversary, a Jacksonville man visited Gainesville on Monday in hopes of heading off more local, national and international turmoil.

Mikhail Muhammad said he was trying to get a message to Terry Jones, pastor of Dove World Outreach Center.

"I wanted to avert disaster - I didn't want to see any bloodshed in Gainesville," said Muhammad, a Muslim who heads the state and Jacksonville chapters of the Black Panther Party.

Muhammad and five companions were protesting outside the church on Labor Day morning when police arrived. They agreed to leave, disappointed that Jones wouldn't meet with them about Saturday's planned burning of the Muslim holy book.

Thousands of miles away, in Kabul, Afghans responded by railing against the United States and calling for President Barack Obama's death.

A crowd of about 500 chanted "Long live Islam" and "Death to America" as they listened to fiery speeches from members of parliament, provincial council deputies and Islamic clerics who criticized the U.S. and demanded the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country. Some threw rocks when a U.S. military convoy passed, but speakers shouted at them to stop and told police to arrest anyone who disobeyed.

Dove World Outreach Center intends to burn copies of the Quran on church grounds to mark the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, but has been denied a permit to set a bonfire.

The church made headlines last year after distributing T-shirts that said "Islam is of the Devil." Earlier this year, the 50-member church put up signs declaring "No Homo Mayor" in reference to Gainesville's newly elected mayor, Craig Lowe, who is openly gay.

"We know this is not just the decision of a church. It is the decision of the president and the entire United States," said Abdul Shakoor, an 18-year-old high school student who said he joined the protest after hearing neighborhood gossip about the Quran burning.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued a statement condemning Dove World Outreach Center's plans, saying Washington was "deeply concerned about deliberate attempts to offend members of religious or ethnic groups."

Violence opposed but feared

Back in Jacksonville Monday afternoon, Muhammad said the Black Panther Party, made up mostly of Muslims, opposes a violent reaction to the Quran-burning. But he fears a local riot could erupt.

"I came as a peace-maker and to warn Terry Jones," Muhammad said. "I would love to sit down with him."

An official with the church, whom Muhammad would not identify, told him a meeting may be possible before Saturday.

Jones told The Times-Union via e-mail that Muhammad and others are welcome to protest, but he will not alter course.

"We have no problem with their right to protest and their freedom of speech," he said. "It will by no means influence or change our plans."

Muhammad said Black Panther members from around the state, including at least 20 from Northeast Florida, will be in Gainesville on Saturday if the burning occurs.

Despite the desire for peace, Muhammad said he understands the anger of protesters in Afghanistan.

"If I were burning a Bible, there would be Christians protesting right in front of my door," he said.

Protesters who gathered in front of Kabul's Milad ul-Nabi mosque raised placards and flags emblazoned with slogans calling for the death of Obama, while police looked on. They burned American flags and a cardboard effigy of Jones before dispersing peacefully.

Muslims consider the Quran to be the word of God and demand it, along with any printed material containing its verses or the name of Allah or the Prophet Muhammad, be treated with the utmost respect.

Any intentional damage or show of disrespect to the Quran is considered deeply offensive.

In 2005, 15 people died and scores were wounded in riots in Afghanistan sparked by a story in Newsweek magazine alleging that interrogators at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay placed copies of the Quran in washrooms and had flushed one down the toilet to get inmates to talk. Newsweek later retracted the story.

Times-Union staff writer Jeff Brumley contributed to this report by The Associated Press.

An 18-year-old is charged with giving a juvenile the gun that discharged Sunday afternoon, wounding a girl in the head.

The 18-year-old, Tyler Alexander Thompson, faces a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

State Attorney Angela Corey said Monday that prosecutors will take a closer look at the case this week before determining what to do about the 17-year-old juvenile.

In Thompson's arrest report, investigators call the shooting an accident but hold Thompson responsible because he had retrieved the firearm from his father's nightstand at the family's Caroline Ridge home. Police say Thompson handed the gun to the 17-year-old and the gun went off.

Thompson was booked in the Duval County jail shortly early Monday in lieu of $50,000 bail.

The victim, Jocelyn Battisti, 17, was rushed to the hospital in serious condition but she is expected to live. No further information was available Monday night.

It is the second time this year in Jacksonville that a 17-year-old has been shot in the head by another juvenile.

On Jan. 6, Alex Ross was shot in the head by his friend Kenneth Ray Stephens, also 17, who was sentenced in August to 15 years in prison.

Last month, Ross could walk with difficulty but still needed a wheelchair. He has no use of his left arm and has lost peripheral vision in both eyes.

David Hunt

Man killed, teen injured in boating accidents

State law enforcement officers are investigating a pair of separate boating crashes that killed a Jacksonville man and injured a teenager during the holiday weekend.

Edgar A. Roche, 31, died when the personal watercraft he was riding on Kingsley Lake at Camp Blanding struck the bow of an anchored boat around 9:15 p.m. Sunday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.

Officials said the owner of the boat heard the crash.

He waded into the water, brought Roche ashore and began administering CPR. Despite the efforts, the man was declared dead at the scene.

In another incident, the commission said Jacksonville resident Kent Winton, 13, was injured Saturday while riding a tube being towed by a personal watercraft operated by his father, William Winton, on Hampton Lake in Bradford County.

The boy's father was circling when the tube struck a dock, the commission said.

The boy was pulled from the water by his father and an uncle, and rushed by ambulance to Shands at UF in Gainesville.

The agency did not say how serious the teen's injuries were.

Jeff Brumley

Woman declared dead after run over by vehicle

A woman was found dead Monday morning on Garden Street near Imeson Road, but police do not know how she died nor what she was doing before her death, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.

Sgt. B.F. Echelberger said police were called shortly before 2 a.m. after a witness called 911 to report a woman lying in the roadway.

As the witness was calling police, a vehicle struck her.

Police administered CPR when they arrived, but the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department pronounced her dead at the scene.

Echelberger said she was in her mid-30s and added that the driver of the vehicle that struck the woman is cooperating.

Nicole Hernandez

Clerk shot in attempted robbery at Internet cafe

A Jacksonville clerk was expected to live after he was shot in the stomach late Sunday night at an Internet cafe, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.

Sgt. B.M. Healy said police were called to the 2300 block of West Beaver Street at 10:45 p.m. after three suspects entered the business, which also provides online gambling, with the intent to rob.

At least one had a firearm, though police do not know the type.

The clerk was shot and was taken to Shands Jacksonville. His injures were not life-threatening, Healy said.

The sergeant added that customers were inside and police do not know what, if anything, was taken by the suspects.

There is no description of the suspects at this time.

Nicole Hernandez

Angry merchant arrested for shooting customer

Police say an enraged shopkeeper chased a man from his Northside convenience store and shot him because he thought he'd stolen a DVD.

David Nathaniel Hamilton Jr., 41, was charged with aggravated assault after the Sunday night shooting.

The victim was shot in the arm.

Police say Hamilton chased a man from his convenience store at West 26th and Pearce streets with a .38-caliber revolver after insisting that the man had stolen a DVD.

But a witness told investigators the man was in the store looking at DVDs and, when accused of taking one, denied it and showed Hamilton his pockets before leaving the store.

David Hunt

Just got the official word from the Jaguars that Sunday's season-opener against the Denver Broncos will not be blacked out.

Tickets still remain for club level seats and a limited number of bowl seats, but they are close enough to lift the blackout. Both Jaguars preseason games were televised as well.

This is pretty significant for the Jaguars considering nine of 10 games, including two preseason games, were blacked out last season.

It'll be a big storyline to follow all year. This game is expected to be a bigger draw because of the return of Jacksonville native and former Gators' star Tim Tebow.

Players know that.

"They'er coming in and the place will be sold out because of Tim Tebow," Maurice Jones-Drew said. "We all know that."

Jones-Drew was asked if the Tebow-mania annoyed him and he said that it didn't. Linebacker Justin Durant praised Tebow when asked about him, but said he didn't pay attention to the excitement at the hometown guy's return.

"He's a great quarterback," Durant said. "He can run the ball and do a lot of things with it. There's a possibility we might see him."

What ended with an Arlington man dead in police custody early Monday began as an altercation between roommates who were longtime friends.

"I told him it was time for him to move on and move out," Jeff Chandler, 43, said of David Talbert, who was unemployed and had been living off and on in the East Pine Summit Drive home owned by Chandler's uncle.

At first, Talbert, 54, took the news well, Chandler said Monday. "I thought everything was OK."

But that changed in a hurry, when Chandler said his friend of 30 years suddenly attacked.

"He tried to rip my eye out of my head; he smashed my head into the cabinets and came at me with a butcher knife," Chandler recalled as he sat on his living room couch. He had a badly bruised right eye and his face was marred with nicks and cuts.

Chandler said he managed to free himself and make it to another part of the house, where he holed up until police arrived, responding to neighbors' 911 calls.

Chandler said he heard officers arrive and did his best to restrain and calm Talbert.

But minutes later, a detective approached the battered roommate with the bad news.

"Your buddy didn't make it," he said.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office confirmed Talbert died shortly after officers arrived at the home about 1:45 a.m.

Police said Talbert became violent with officers and went into medical distress after being restrained. Officers administered CPR and called paramedics.

The suspect was taken to Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Chief John Hartley said it appeared officers did nothing wrong in the incident, which remains under investigation.

Chandler agreed, saying Talbert's "poor health and the excitement" likely caused him to go into cardiac arrest.

He added that his friend may have been under the influence of a powerful painkiller. "He has a prescription for OxyContin and he abuses it to death," Chandler said.

Jim Ramsey said Chandler, his nephew, has been through difficult times in recent months, including surgery related to diabetes.

Ramsey, who was visiting from Tennessee on Monday, said Talbert had once been an excellent carpet layer but had been unemployed for some time and living in the home with Chandler rent free.

"It's just a sad deal when it has to come to this," Ramsey said.

Chandler spoke compassionately about his friend, saying the man seemed disturbed the day before the attack.

"Yesterday morning, he said, 'I'm going to hell tomorrow,' " Chandler recalled.

"I said, 'That's nothing to joke about'."

"He said, 'That's just how I feel.' "

Times-Union staff writer Nicole Hernandez contributed to this report.

jeff.brumley@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4310