CNN
—
No less than 10 individuals have been wounded Monday afternoon in a drive-by taking pictures in Lakeland, Florida, police mentioned, and two are in crucial situation.
A dark-blue Nissan four-door sedan pulled up on the scene of the taking pictures, Lakeland Police Division Chief Sam Taylor mentioned.
“The automobile slowed, didn’t cease, and the 4 home windows went down. It gave the impression to be occupied by 4 shooters within the automobile,” Taylor mentioned. “They began firing from all 4 home windows of the automobile and taking pictures males on each side.”
Eight of the victims have nonlife-threatening wounds, Taylor mentioned at a information briefing Monday night. Solely three victims have been transported by emergency administration providers, they usually have been between 20 and 35 years previous. The others have been taken in private autos, he mentioned.
Police consider it was a focused occasion, the chief mentioned.
The Nissan, which had short-term tags, took off at a excessive pace, and police are “actively in search of that automobile now,” Taylor mentioned.
“We might be out a lot of the night time attempting to determine who these people are within the automobile,” Taylor mentioned.
Police are in search of at the very least 4 males who might have been carrying facial coverings, in response to Taylor. He urged members of the neighborhood to name in with any data they might have that might assist with the investigation.
In a joint effort with Heartland Crime Stoppers Florida, the police division on Monday supplied a $5,000 reward for anybody who offers data that may result in the identification and arrest of suspects related to the taking pictures. Data could also be reported at 1-900-226 TIPS (8477).
On the crime scene, police discovered a “amount” of marijuana, which signifies to police that “there was a narcotic gross sales or gross sales of marijuana happening on the time,” Taylor mentioned. “Whether or not that’s important or associated to that is unknown.”
The chief mentioned in his 34 years with the division, he had by no means labored on a case the place so many individuals had been shot at one time.
“That is one thing that doesn’t occur in Lakeland,” Taylor mentioned.