Detectives with the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office are looking for the gunman who shot and killed a man Thursday afternoon and injured a woman.
The woman, whose injuries are still not clear, is still being treated at the hospital.
The shooting happened near 14th Avenue and 8th Street near Douglas Park.
Both victims were initially taken to Raulerson Hospital. A spokeswoman for the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office says the woman was later transferred to a different trauma center.
The relationship between the victims is unclear, and detectives have not identified them.
Many people who live n the area where the shooting happened are too afraid to speak out about what they saw or heard.
A 16-year-old named Breaira bravely described the deadly shooting.
“First it was like two gun shots. Then, it was a pause and then like four more right after that, pop pop pop. It sounded like one of them hit one of the trees over there because it was a big pop. So, we were pretty close to it,” Breaira said. The shooting happened nearly 50 feet from her home.
But, she says the violence doesn’t scare her anymore.
“I mean I'm used to it. I wasn’t scared or nothing, but I tried to protect myself. I got low…I was in my room, but my family was on the porch and they all ran in the house and my mom called the police,” Breaira said.
Then, she said she dropped to the floor.
“I crawled to the hallway where there weren’t any windows,” said Breaira.
Hospital staff say the hospital went on lockdown for nearly two hours when both victims arrived. They say the parking lot was packed with people. No one was allowed in or out of the building.
Breaira said she knew the man who died, and is hopeful the violence will die down.
“He was cool, like spoke to the kids and everything. He was alright," said Breaira.
The Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office says this is the third deadly shooting in the county this year.