CASSELBERRY, Fla. – A man died after he was shot and crashed his car in a Casselberry shopping plaza, police said.
Casselberry police said Santo Clourido Rodriguez, 21, of Ocoee, died in the shooting, which was reported just before 11 p.m. Tuesday at the Market Square strip mall at the corner of State Road 436 and Howell Branch Road.
Police said it's believed that Rodriguez and at least one other man might have met in the parking lot before the shooting.
As Rodriguez drove to get help, police said he crashed his car into a pillar outside one of the businesses.
The motive is not known, but police said the shooting was intentional and not provoked by the victim.
Detectives said pictures of a white Chrysler 3000 could help find the person responsible for shooting Rodriguez.
"We heard a gunshot in the parking lot and all the guys went out running and they went down and saw smoke," said Jasmine Keloy, who was working at Debbie's Bar nearby.
Rodriguez, who police said was shot in the chest, tried driving away to get help, but investigators believe he likely died while behind the wheel and ended up crashing into a pillar just outside some businesses.
"You just heard like a loud bang and it was the window blowing out at the end, and obviously the pole getting knocked out," Keloy said.
The report says a witness saw two cars parked outside Fancy Fruits with three or four people in between. They said suddenly the group got into a scuffle, pushing and shoving. That's when they said a man got out of the car with a gun.
The witness said the suspect walked around Rodriguez's car and shot at him multiple times as he was trying to drive away.
"I had to stay at the door," the witness said. "All my customers were gone. They all ran down there to help him out. There wasn't really much I could have done for him."
Tonight, detectives describe the getaway car as possibly a mid-2000 model with dark tinted windows .
The men were described as in their mid-20s. One is 5 feet 9 inches tall with medium-length dreadlocks. The other is 5 feet 4 inches tall with a medium build.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Casselberry police.