DeLAND, Fla. – A man is dead after a shooting in DeLand Thursday evening.
DeLand police responded to a report of a shooting at a home at 314 W. Euclid Ave. near the intersection of South Clara Ave. around 6:30 p.m.
When officers arrived, DeLand police Chief Jason Umberger said they found 59-year-old Terrance Gibson in a vacant lot, known as "The Watering Hole," with apparent gunshot wounds.
“A masked gunman dressed in black came out of nowhere on foot and shot this individual and then fled on foot,” Umberger said.
Witnesses said a group of people was gathered around a campfire when Gibson was ambushed.
“I don’t think it was random, but it’s like he singled that particular person out,” Umberger said.
Detectives said the suspect fled on foot and when they issued a K-9 track, they lost the suspect.
Larry Gibson, who identified the victim as his brother, said he received a phone call about the shooting.
“I got a phone call, and I thought he was playing, so I said, 'Quit playing' on the phone, 'my little brother hasn’t done anything to anyone around here,'” Gibson said. “(But then the caller said), 'Oh no, I’m serious. He got shot three times in the head.'”
Umberger said detectives are working to determine what happened as they collect evidence.
“Whoever it was chosen to end that person's life this way, it’s disturbing, to say the least," Umberger said. "The fact that somebody would be that brazen to do this in front of other people."