PLANTATION, FLA. (WSVN) - A fight between a group of young people escalated into a shooting, sending one of them to the hospital and prompting a precautionary lockdown at a nearby middle school, Plantation Police said.
Officers responded on Monday afternoon to reports of the shooting in the area of Northwest 70th Avenue and 16th Street, according to a series of posts on the department’s X account.
According to detectives, there was a fight between two juveniles, resulting in one of them being shot.
But the video, shared with 7News, shows a group of teens beating each other up in a street fight in the middle of a residential neighborhood. At one point, some of the fighters even body-slam one another against the ground.
“All the kids, you could tell, were coming to a specific location, which was this corner right here,” said witness Robert Cogdill.
“Everybody was fighting over there, everybody like – phew, it was crazy, man,” said a young witness.
In the middle of a fight, a gunshot was heard.
“All I heard was a gunshot. I got low,” said the young witness.
Home surveillance footage captured audio of the gunshot, as well as the group of teens scattering in different directions, including the injured victim.
“Everybody was running and screaming, and everybody kept saying, ‘Gil got shot, Gil got shot,'” said another young witness. “I just know he was lying down right there, and people were crying and stuff.”
One witness said she saw the group of teens running around the neighborhood after the gunshot. Then she saw the victim in front of her home with blood coming down the right side of his back.
“I heard a gunshot, and when we went to look, we saw kids running around, and they said that someone got popped, and when we did come outside, we ended up seeing two boys walking and, I guess, it was the person who got shot,” said the witness. “And we were telling him that he needs to sit down before the bullet does move anywhere, and then that’s when the ambulance came, and he was laying there.”
Cellphone showed the injured person being loaded onto a stretcher before paramedics took him to a local hospital. Police said he’s expected to be OK.
As officers investigated the shooting, they placed a multi-colored backpack in a large brown paper bag as evidence.
Detectives said the fight did not occur on school grounds and took place after school hours.
Police said Plantation Middle School was placed on lockdown as a precaution, adding there was no threat to the school. The lockdown was later lifted.
Witnesses said the hospitalized victim was awake when first responders arrived at the scene.
Area residents said the fights in their neighborhood need to stop.
“Sending a lot of prayers to the family,” said neighbor Maria Cuenca.
Cuenca, who lives close to where the brawl turned into a shooting, said she wants to see more security and officers patrolling the neighborhood to feel safer.
“I think we should do better as a community, because it’s very hard, it’s very painful to see, to live in this neighborhood and know that, unfortunately, at dismissal time, you have to kind of wonder, like, is there going to be another fight?” she said.
“It just needs to stop, like why?” said Cogdill.
As of Tuesday afternoon, police have not released any information about who may have pulled the trigger and whether or not they are looking for a shooter, as they continue to investigate.
If you have any information on this shooting, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
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