ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — Four people were shot Sunday afternoon near Fort Pierce during what investigators believe was an ambush related to a Facebook Marketplace transaction, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies responded to a reported shooting in the 3600 block of Avenue R at approximately 1:15 p.m. Sunday. Upon arrival, deputies secured the scene, rendered immediate aid to the victims and coordinated medical care with St. Lucie County Fire District.
"Three individuals came up in a vehicle to do an online marketplace type of transaction and then a shoot out occurred," said Undersheriff John Bolduc.
According to the sheriff's office, the three suspects arrived in the vehicle to sell an iPhone. The buyer was near the home when gunfire erupted.
"There's a vehicle in the middle of the road. It has a couple of bullet holes in it, and there's a lot of shell casings on the ground," said Bolduc.
Crime scene investigators recovered more than 30 shell casings at the scene.
Four people suffered gunshot wounds and were transported to Lawnwood. Detectives say they are expected to survive and will undergo surgery.
"The message here is, if you're gonna do a transaction with people that you don’t know, go to a safe location," said Bolduc. "At the sheriff's office, we offer a place that has surveillance cameras on it right in front of the sheriff's office."
Detectives believe a fifth individual may have been involved and are actively working to identify and locate that person.
"We know we’re looking for at least one more person who fled on foot," said Bolduc. "As it evolves, we keep finding different rabbit holes as we like to say to go down."
On Sunday night, detectives issued a search warrant at a residence in the 1900 block of North 37th Street, identified as a location where one of the alleged shooters fled after the incident. During the search, detectives collected additional evidence and multiple firearms, including one possibly involved in the shooting.
Anyone with information related to this incident is urged to contact the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office at 772-462-7300 or submit a tip via email at CrimeTips@stluciesheriff.gov.
