LAKE CITY, Fla. — The Lake City Police Department is asking for help after a string of shootings within the last week that left one dead and multiple teenagers shot.
The shootings all happened within a mile of each other on the city’s Northside.
Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler says shootings are up compared to this time last year. While he would not call these gang related crimes, he does say he believes the violence is stemming from groups of individuals in conflict with each other, and says drugs might be involved.
“We believe that they’re tied into some of the other shootings we’ve had recently, possibly revenge type of shootings,"said Butler.
The first shooting happened Dec. 13.
Officers were in the area of N. Davis St and heard gunfire. They found a victim who said they were driving along NE MLK St when gunfire erupted behind their car. Officers noted the victim's car had gunshot damage, and canvased the area for evidence or further damage, but were unable to locate any or identify the source of the gunfire.
Then on Thursday, officers found one person dead and two more injured on NW Jefferson St. Officers in the area responded toward the sound of the gunshots where they located two victims, one with serious injuries and one with minor injuries. Shortly after, a third deceased victim was found nearby.
On Monday, five teens were shot. Police say three of those teens were bystanders and the shooting started when people in two cars open fire at each other. One of the cars involved was found with three juvenile males inside the vehicle, two suffering from gunshot wounds.
"Some of the people that were shot had nothing to do with the altercation that happened at the intersection, they were just standing on the street and were hit by gunfire," Chief Butler said.
Butler says numerous tips have come in from the community and the department is following multiple leads.
“If somebody does have a video, if they can check their ring videos or their security, if they find something please contact our investigators," he said.
A task force with detectives from the Lake City Police Department and the Columbia County Sheriff’s office are concentrating on the area and working the case.