St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that eight people were shot during an MLK Jr. Day event in Fort Pierce on Monday. One person is in critical condition.The shooting happened at Ilous Ellis Park at 5:20 p.m. during the MLK Car Show & Family Fun Day. Deputies say more than 1,000 people were at the event.Officials say four others were injured during the chaos after shots were fired, including a child. They are all expected to survive.Sister station WPBF obtained video from the scene, which shows a large crowd enjoying the event when gunshots ring out. People can then be seen confused before they begin ducking, running and hiding behind cars. One woman is seen running to safety while holding a baby.Video below: A look at the scene”The first two shots were, ‘Bang. Bang,'” said Charlie Frank Matthew, a witness. “I witnessed two people get shot.””It was mass chaos as you can imagine when shots rang out with, there were a thousand plus people here at the event, and as the shots rang out, people were just running in all directions,” said St. Lucie County chief deputy Brian Hester.The sheriff’s office said the shooting started from a disagreement.The sheriff’s office says two deputies were at the event on a detail and were able to respond to the incident right away. The sheriff’s office says since Ilous Ellis Park is a county park, the agency has jurisdiction in that area. The responding deputies rendered aid to victims shortly after the shooting Hester says they were not able to see who initially fired the shots.Other people at the event rendered aid to victims as well. Some people transported victims to a local hospital in their cars.Another video shows a group of people rendering aid to at least one victim.”Multiple people were shot. It sounds like from our initial investigation here on scene, there was a disagreement of some sort between two parties, and unfortunately, they chose to resolve that with guns,” said Hester. “It’s really sad in a celebration of someone who represented peace and equality that a disagreement results in the use of guns and violence to solve that disagreement.”And then so many innocent people who were injured or hurt and were not part of the disagreement as well,” Hester added.Investigators say dozens of deputies are following up on leads throughout the Fort Pierce area. No arrests have been made at this time.Fort Pierce is located about 60 miles north of West Palm Beach, Florida.
St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that eight people were shot during an MLK Jr. Day event in Fort Pierce on Monday. One person is in critical condition.
The shooting happened at Ilous Ellis Park at 5:20 p.m. during the MLK Car Show & Family Fun Day. Deputies say more than 1,000 people were at the event.
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Officials say four others were injured during the chaos after shots were fired, including a child. They are all expected to survive.
Sister station WPBF obtained video from the scene, which shows a large crowd enjoying the event when gunshots ring out. People can then be seen confused before they begin ducking, running and hiding behind cars. One woman is seen running to safety while holding a baby.
Video below: A look at the scene
“The first two shots were, ‘Bang. Bang,'” said Charlie Frank Matthew, a witness. “I witnessed two people get shot.”
“It was mass chaos as you can imagine when shots rang out with, there were a thousand plus people here at the event, and as the shots rang out, people were just running in all directions,” said St. Lucie County chief deputy Brian Hester.
The sheriff’s office said the shooting started from a disagreement.
The sheriff’s office says two deputies were at the event on a detail and were able to respond to the incident right away. The sheriff’s office says since Ilous Ellis Park is a county park, the agency has jurisdiction in that area. The responding deputies rendered aid to victims shortly after the shooting Hester says they were not able to see who initially fired the shots.
Other people at the event rendered aid to victims as well. Some people transported victims to a local hospital in their cars.
Another video shows a group of people rendering aid to at least one victim.
“Multiple people were shot. It sounds like from our initial investigation here on scene, there was a disagreement of some sort between two parties, and unfortunately, they chose to resolve that with guns,” said Hester. “It’s really sad in a celebration of someone who represented peace and equality that a disagreement results in the use of guns and violence to solve that disagreement.
“And then so many innocent people who were injured or hurt and were not part of the disagreement as well,” Hester added.
Investigators say dozens of deputies are following up on leads throughout the Fort Pierce area. No arrests have been made at this time.
Fort Pierce is located about 60 miles north of West Palm Beach, Florida.
