Authorities in Lakeland, Florida are hunting for four gunmen after a targeted shooting that left ten male victims wounded Monday afternoon.
The victims, aged between 20 and 35, were gathering along a residential street, likely dealing marijuana, when a dark-blue sedan with tainted windows slowed by, and four suspects opened fire at the crowd. The car and suspects then took off.
Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor said in a news conference that two victims suffered critical wounds and are fighting for their lives. He added that just a minute prior to the mass shooting, a school bus dropped off kids at the scene.
“This something that doesn't happen in Lakeland,” Taylor told reporters. “I've been here 33 years and I can tell you I have never worked an event where this many people have been shot at one time. Ever.”
Police were still looking for the suspects Tuesday. Taylor described the neighborhood as “challenged” with law enforcement focusing on criminal activity in the area recently.
“It actually saddens me to some extent that we consider ourselves to be a small town situated between Tampa and Orlando, and when stuff like this happens, it just kind of hits home with me a little bit that maybe we're not a small town anymore. It actually is pretty sad,” Taylor said.
