FORT PIERCE — St. Lucie County sheriff’s detectives are investigspanting span shooting that left multiple people injured Monday during a Martin Luther King Jr. car show event.
The incident happened around 5:20 p.m. at Ilous Ellis Park, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Eight adults were shot and four others — one of whom was a child — were injured fleeing the scene, Tonya Woodworth, sheriff’s spokesperson, confirmed Monday evening. One of the people shot was seriously injured, she said.
This is an ongoing investigation and the Sheriff’s Office is actively working on leads, Woodworth said. As of 10 p.m. Monday, no one was charged for the mass shooting, she said.
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More than 1,000 people were at the event, according to St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Brian Hester.
The event 772 MLK Car Show & Family Fun Day advertised live music, a local car show, kids bounce zone and more “to honor and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” from noon to 6 p.m., a calendar listing said on the City of Fort Pierce’s website. The attached flyer said the car show was at 3:30 p.m.
There was at least one shooter, Hester said, adding he believes there is another involved. The shooting happened after a disagreement between two parties, according to a 10:30 p.m. update from the Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s sad that during celebration of someone who represented peace and equality that a disagreement resulted in a use of guns and violence to solve that disagreement,” Hester said. “… So many innocent people were injured or hurt that were not part of the disagreement.”
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Two Sheriff’s deputies were already on scene, working as security details for the event, Hester said. Neither of them saw who was shooting, he added.
Hester referred to the scene as mass chaos.
“There were people laying behind cars,” he said. “…It was kind of hard to tell who a victim was and who was just hiding.”