Palmsea Condominium evacuated in South Palm Beach, off-duty Palm Beach County firefighter arrested

SOUTH PALM BEACH, Fla. - Lantana and South Palm Beach police responded to a shooting at the Palmsea condominiums, 3520 South Ocean Boulevard, Tuesday morning.

When they arrived investigators said they discovered it was a Palm Beach County Fire Rescue firefighter who shot a gun inside his condo.

He has been identified as Jean A. Pierre II, a firefighter/paramedic, who has been employed with Palm Beach County since September of 2003.

No one was hurt.

Investigators say that when they started talking with Pierre, he suggested there may be explosives inside the building.

The building was evacuated as a precaution and surrounding ones placed on alert.

The bomb squad is checking for explosives.

"The police department secured the individual who was responsible for the shooting, it was a shooting to the property only, nobody was shot, there were shots discharged inside the building," said George Springthorpe, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue District Captain.

Pierre, who was off duty, was handcuffed and taken into custody by South Palm Beach Public Safety.

The firefighters' union released the following statement following his arrest:

Today's incident is extremely unfortunate and we are concerned about the safety of the public as well as the health of our employee. Our employee relations team has been working with this individual to get him the help that he needs. Whenever a brother or sister is in trouble, we will always do our best make sure he or she seeks treatment for any and all conditions.

A good portion of South Ocean Boulevard is closed in the area.

YouReporter Anthony also submitted video from the scene which showed heavy police and firefighter activity.