LAKELAND, Fla. – A 3-year-old child and a 22-year-old man are dead after a shooting at a Lakeland apartment complex on Monday evening, according to the police department.
In a release, police said they responded to the area of 1850 Cambridge Cove Circle around 6:34 p.m. after receiving a report about the shooting.
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Investigators said once they arrived they found a 2023 Toyota Rav 4 with 3-year-old Jaquez Norton dead in the backseat of the vehicle.
Officers also found a 23-year-old man on the scene who had also been shot but is expected to survive. The mother of the 3-year-old boy was also located at the scene, along with a 3-month-old child, neither of whom was injured in the shooting.
Investigators said the Rav 4 had been trying to leave the apartment complex when its path was blocked by a white Dodge Challenger. After blocking the SUV’s exit, two men got out of the Challenger — Kemarius Wilson, 22, and an unidentified man who was driving the car — and approached the Rav 4 with guns, according to police.
Officers said the 23-year-old passenger of the SUV was also armed and there was an exchange of gunfire which injured the man and killed the 3-year-old. The two men then got back into the Challenger and took off.
Investigators said the men then ditched the Challenger and got into another vehicle. Wilson was then dropped off at Lakeland Regional Hospital, where he was also pronounced deceased.
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Police Chief Sam Taylor said a patrol officer ended up spotting the Challengers ditched between two houses, covered in a black tarp.
“The resident at this address was very cooperative. (The car) was seized and it’s downstairs in our lab now being processed,” Taylor said.
The chief said a motive for the shooting remains unclear.
“We felt like they knew each other. We have a really good reason, we think, why (the victims were targeted). We want to firm that up a little bit, but it wasn’t just a random act,” he said. “They were interested in that vehicle and the people inside of that vehicle — I don’t know specifically (why). We’re gonna firm that up in the coming days.”
Police are now looking for the driver of the Challenger. A $5,000 reward is being offered for any tips that lead to the arrest of that man. Anyone with information is asked to call Lakeland police at 863-834-8975 or Crimestoppers at 1-888-400-8477.
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