A Florida SWAT team raided the rental property of TikTok stars Alex and Franky Venegas, known as the Island Boys. The raid ended in the arrest of a suspect who may have been involved in the killing of an eight-year-old girl in a drive-by shooting.
The raid was executed on Monday. Neither of the brothers was reported targets of the raid and were not arrested at the scene, but their associate Andrew James Thomas was. Alex was the only one home at the time of the SWAT Team’s arrival, and he told police that Thomas tried to get him to hide his gun when he heard police knocking at the door.
Thomas reportedly attempted to hide his gun in the laundry room, but after advice from Alex, the gun was located and he was booked for gun possession and violation of probation.
A rep for the Island Boys said Thomas was a longtime childhood friend who had been staying at their house for two days, and that the social media stars had no idea that he was a shooting suspect.
“This is a big shock,” their manager. Dovi Benzer said. “We knew him as a quiet, quiet kid that would come around and do his thing.”
Thomas faces felony charges for first-degree murder, attempted murder and felony possession of a weapon.
