Police: Girl, 2 Others Driving Around Randomly Shooting Pedestrians
2 Pedestrians Shot Near Roads
POSTED: Tuesday, June 5, 2007
UPDATED: 9:18 am EDT June 5,2007
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Authorities in Orange County, Fla., arrested a 16-year-old girl and are searching for two young men who are suspected of driving around and randomly shooting people, according to investigators.
Detectives said early Tuesday one pedestrian was shot in the back and the other in the buttocks a few miles apart in the Winter Garden area.
"It is a very serious situation because these two victims seem to be random victims," Local 6's Tiffany Tift said. "And that these young people absolutely had not motive when they were shooting at these people early this morning."
Officers said the first victim was surprised as he walked near a road.
"As the (Dodge) Durango pulled up next to him, five shots were fired at that time," Orange County sheriff's Capt. Steve Lang said. "The victim was shot once in the back."
About five miles away from the shooting, police said another man was shot in the buttocks in another apparent random attack.
Police were given a description of a sport utility vehicle sought in the shootings and eventually caught up with a stolen Dodge Durango at the Park Hamilton apartments after a 15 mile chase through Orange County.
Two Ocoee police patrol cars slammed into each other trying to make a quick turn to get to the stolen vehicle, Local 6 reported.
A 16-year-old girl was immediately taken into custody. However, two other juveniles were able to escape into a neighborhood.
Police said the two juvenile who fled the scene apparently still have a gun.
Both of the shooting victims were transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center and listed in stable condition.
"Both (victims) were shot with the same caliber handgun that police said they found in the vehicle, left behind by the owner of the vehicle."
At one point, officers thought they had the two juveniles cornered but they instead captured two suspected burglars allegedly involved in an unrelated crime.
No description was given of the missing juveniles.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the juveniles from the shootings is urged to call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
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