A shooting outside a Target store in Kissimmee, Florida, ended with three people injured and one suspect dead. Two deputies of the Osceola County were also involved in the shooting but fortunately did not sustain any injuries, according to the Osceola County Sheriff's Office.
The attack happened on Wednesday night just after 8 pm on Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway. Multiple law enforcement vehicles responded to the Target store and the parking lot was closed up for hours after the attack for proper investigation.
A late news conference regarding the shooting had Osceola County Sheriff Marco Lopez share some details and witness accounts. Witnesses claimed to have heard around 15 to 20 rounds, and people were seen running for cover and to get away from the vicinity as soon as possible, Fox35 News was told.
The Associated Press was informed of the incident by Public Information Coordinator Andrew Sullivan who revealed in an email that one person was taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds and later died. Another sustained a minor shrapnel injury to their hand, and two others were hurt after falling while running away from the area.
Fox35 news was informed about a recent update that came on Thursday, in which more details from the Osceola County Sheriff's Office were made public. The office reported that in an attempt to detain the four suspects, two deputies had to fire shots, while one suspect was killed, two were transported to the hospital and the last one was detained at the scene.
As per an arrest affidavit for one of the suspects Thursday afternoon, deputies claimed to have been called initially to the store after two men in masks were seen inside the store trying to steal pizza and Pokémon cards. When the masked men were leaving the store, deputies tried executing a "takedown," which then resulted in a shooting.
An employee at the Miami Grill told ABC news that he tried capturing a video of the shooting through a Cell phone which shows moments immediately after the attack. Two people who were probably detained were seen sitting on the ground with their hands behind their backs. The people in the video looked young, they might even pass as teenagers, said the man who took the video.
A witness told Fox35 news, "all you hear are shots going 'bom bom bom bom bom.' And then you heard return fire, 'Bom bom bom bom bom.' And all I see is families laying on the floor so we started ducking around the bushes to see what's going on. Then I go ahead and call my boss and I'm like 'look there's some shooting happening.' I told the employees and the customers, so I sent him to see what was going on and he recorded that."
Not much is known regarding the intent of the shooting as a press release stated, "the names and any identifiable information of the deputies involved in the shooting are protected by Marsy's Law and will not be released," Fox13 news reported. Sheriff Marcos R. Lopez when approached for a statement refused on grounds of a pending investigation being conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
