Police: 10 hurt, 2 in surgery after shooting in Lakeland
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Lakeland Police Department said a shooting left several people injured Monday.
10 hurt, 2 in surgery after shooting in Lakeland
The shooting occurred in the area of Iowa Avenue North and Plum Street Monday afternoon around 3:43 p.m.
Police initially said nine people were hurt, but they later learned that an additional person had injuries.
A video shows the moment shots rang out in a Lakeland neighborhood, injuring 10 people. Two people are in critical condition. The suspects are still at large.
Two people had critical injuries and eight people had non-life-threatening injuries.
10 hurt, 2 in surgery after shooting in Lakeland
Police said the two victims with critical injuries are getting surgery.
“One is in surgery and the other is either in surgery or headed to surgery,” Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor said.
The police chief said some of the victims are being more cooperative than others who were hurt.
“Some are cooperating, some are not cooperating. Some that had non-life-threatening injuries have decided that they don’t have any idea why this happened. And some are telling us everything that they know about it,” Taylor said.
There are four suspects in a four-door dark blue Nissan are believed to be involved in the shooting.
“The vehicle slowed. It did not stop, and the four windows went down. It appears it was occupied by four shooters in the vehicle, and they started firing from all four windows of the vehicle and shooting males on both sides of the street,” Taylor said.
10 hurt, 2 in surgery after shooting in Lakeland
He added that the shooting appears to be targeted.
“We have reason to believe that this was a targeted event that it was not a random act,” Taylor said.
Taylor said a large amount of marijuana was found at the scene, but it’s unknown if it’s related.
“We did locate a quantity of marijuana at the scene which would indicate that obviously there was some narcotic sales or sales with marijuana going on at the time. And whether that is significant or related to this, it’s unknown,” Taylor said.
10 hurt, 2 in surgery after shooting in Lakeland
The Lakeland police chief said he was shocked that this happened in the community.
“This is something that doesn’t happen in Lakeland. I’ve been here 34 years and I can tell you I have never worked an event where this many people have been shot at one time ever,” Taylor said.
Police said a Ring video showed kids were getting off the bus just before the gunfire, putting them at jeopardy.
“Maybe we’re not a small town anymore. It actually is pretty sad,” Taylor said.
Police are working to locate the suspects’ vehicle.
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