One person was killed and 11 more were injured after a shooting took place at a Martin Luther King Jr Day event in Florida.
The shooting happened around 5.20pm at Ilous Ellis Park in Fort Pierce, on Florida’s Atlantic coast.
The park was the ending location for the Fort Pierce Martin Luther King Jr Day Parade, where it would then host a public block party called the MLK Car Show and Family Fun Day.
Both St Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara and Chief Deputy Brian Hester marched in the parade and attended the party. ‘It was mass chaos, as you can imagine, when shots rang out,’ Hester said. The Sheriff’s Office said the event was attended by about 1,000 people, who then panicked and ran when they heard gunshots.
A total of eight adults were hit by gunfire, including one who was hospitalized in critical condition. Another four people, including a child, were injured as they tried to flee from the chaos.
One of the victims died on Tuesday morning after being taken to Longwood Hospital. Sheriff Mascara identified the victim as a 30-year-old woman from Fort Pierce. She attended the party with her 6-year-old daughter.
‘What was a shooting investigation has turned into a murder investigation,’ Mascara said in a video message on Tuesday.
Hester and Mascara said that the shootout was the result of a dispute between two rival Fort Pierce gangs, and evidence suggests there were multiple shooters with multiple weapons.
‘There were over 50 shell casings recovered from the scene from three different calibers of weapons,’ Hester said.
The Chief Deputy said they would focus all of their resources on the investigation into this ‘heinous’ crime, and asked for the community’s help in identifying the shooters.
‘We are committed to put the people responsible for this act in jail and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,’ Mascara said.