Gunshots fired during drug deal in Key Largo park, police say
A drug deal erupted into gunfire in a normally quiet Florida Keys park Sunday evening, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
The teenage boy who deputies say is the shooter was arrested shortly afterward when the Hyundai sedan in which he was a passenger was pulled over leaving the Keys on U.S. 1.
The 16-year-old, whom the Miami Herald/FLKeysnews.com is not naming because of his age, faces a series of felony charges, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, robbery with a firearm and discharging a firearm from a vehicle.
According to the sheriff’s office, the boy and the driver of the Hyundai met a separate group in another car at Key Largo Community Park at mile marker 100 around 5 p.m. to conduct a drug deal of about 3.5 grams of marijuana.
At some point, the teen got out of the Hyundai, reached into the other car and stole the cellphone of one of the occupants. He also fired into the car, sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt said in a statement.
No one was hit, but deputies later found two to three bullet holes in the other car.
After the Hyundai drove off, the people in the other car followed it to write down its license plate number. One of the occupants of the pursuing car said he saw the teen point his gun and shoot more rounds toward him, Linhardt said.
The other car’s occupants were able to give deputies a description of the Hyundai, and deputies pulled it over at mile marker 108, Linhardt said.
The driver of the Hyundai, who is also 16, was also taken into custody, but as of Monday does not face charges, according to the sheriff’s office press release.
The boy accused of shooting the gun told deputies he did it, and he said he stole the cellphone, Linhardt said.
The gun was a .45 caliber pistol, which the teen said he threw into a canal near Laguna Avenue, a street that runs parallel to the north side of the park, according to the press release.
Linhardt said more charges may be pending in the case.
