PINE HILLS, Fla. – Two men were killed early Saturday in a shooting at an after-hours club in Pine Hills, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded at 3:34 a.m. to the 2700 block of N. Pine Hills Road, where they located two men shot who were pronounced dead on scene, a news release states.
The men were identified Sunday as Errol Sylvester Irving, 56, and Joslyn Michael Gray, 49.
The sheriff’s office said that a business labeled as a tax office was operating as an “illicit after-hours club” at the time of the shooting, including a statement in the initial release regarding Sheriff John Mina’s advocacy for harsher penalties in illegal alcohol sales.
We know that Illicit after-hours operations attract criminal activity, violence and illegal drugs. That’s why Sheriff Mina pushed for harsher penalties for illegal alcohol sales in this legislative session. That legislation – which passed in the Florida House and Senate unanimously - makes illegal alcohol sales a felony and gives law enforcement a powerful tool to eliminate these dangerous clubs and safeguard our communities.
Orange County Sheriff's Office | Homicide investigation on North Pine Hills Road (excerpt)
Carl Berthole is the manager of Creole Bakery, the business that the sheriff’s office initially implicated in the deadly shooting. Berthole gave a statement to News 6 saying that the bakery was not involved.
“This did not happen at our business. We have operated here for seven years, we do not have a club at our business,” Berthole said.
Berthole said that the incident happened elsewhere in the shopping plaza and that he was working with the sheriff’s office to make that clear.
News 6 reached out to the sheriff’s office and received the following statement:
Investigators have determined the shooting did not occur at Creole Bakery. It occurred at the same address, but in a unit adjacent to the bakery itself.
We apologize for the erroneous information that was previously released in the very early stages of the investigation. It was the only information available at that time.
Orange County Sheriff's Office
Mina, too, said Sunday that the business where the shooting occurred has no relation to Creole Bakery.
An investigation is ongoing, the sheriff’s office said.
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