PALM BAY, Fla. – An 18-year-old and three teens, ages 14, 15 and 15, were shot and wounded Monday night at an apartment complex in Palm Bay, and the motive in the shooting remains unknown, police said.
No arrests have been made in the shooting, which took place about 8:30 p.m. at the Park Apartments in the 1200 block of Hadley Circle.
Palm Bay police said Tuesday that the victims suffered varying degrees of injuries, but all their wounds were non-life-threatening.
Crime scene agents and detectives spent several hours into the night talking with witnesses and locating dozens of bullet casings across a section of the apartment complex, News 6 partner Florida Today reported.
“We have no information to believe this was gang-related. We are still trying to establish a motive for this incident,” said Lt. Mike Roberts, spokesman for the Palm Bay Police Department.
Officers were called to the complex — located near Eastern Florida State College — and found the gunshot victims.
A woman who stood outside one apartment building said her son, who just turned 18 years old, was shot in the legs and ran through the parking lot to get home for help.
The mother told police that she was home and heard the gunfire, then saw her son. That unnamed teen was taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne as officers roped off the apartment. Other gunshot victims were airlifted from the scene.
Bruce Ainbinder recorded video of the response after he said he heard gunfire.
“I just heard the first couple of pop, pop, pop, pop real quick,” the resident said. “Came back outside for a second then ran right back in because I realized there was shooting going on.”
Crime scene tape stretched across three sites at the complex. One of the locations was in a back parking area where yellow markers were placed on the ground. Nearly a dozen bullet casings were marked for evidence, not far from where one of two crime scene vans were parked. On one street, detectives huddled together to talk as residents, including some who heard gunshots rattle off earlier, occasionally peeked outside.
Valentine Laino said the shooting will change how she plays with her kids in the neighborhood.
“Don’t really feel safe right now with my kids being here, especially,” the mother said. “I was even thinking recently I want to take bike rides at night again, and that’s definitely not going to happen now.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Palm Bay police at 321-952-3463 or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).
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