UPDATE:
Deputies identified 25-year-old Jonathan Mortume as a person of interest in the shooting that happened on Sunday.
Detectives are urging anyone with any information to contact the Pasco County Sheriff's Office at 1-800-706-2488.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Pasco County responded to the scene of a shooting at a golf club in Wesley Chapel around 8 p.m. Sunday night.
Video from social media showed hundreds packed into the pool area at the Quail Hollow Golf and Country Club at 6225 Old Pasco Road in Wesley Chapel.
According to deputies, the large party with over 500 guests in attendance was being held at the facility when someone fired a gun hitting one person.
“It was a great party, until these idiots decided to make dumb decisions,” said party organizer Nesley Eliscart.
The event Sunday, was billed as a celebration of Haitian Flag Day.
“We don’t want it end like this. It was supposed to be a cultural event just to have fun,” said party organizer James Brown.
Eliscart said they purposely moved the party from Tampa to Wesley Chapel to avoid trouble.
“We brought it from Hillsborough County thinking we are in a safer environment,” he said.
One partygoer was grazed by a bullet.
“I just laid my head down looking for my sister. Looking for my family members. It was like whoa,” said Eliscart.
Another person accidentally stabbed themselves with their own knife. And two pregnant women got trampled in the chaos.
Residents in Quail Hollow told us the pool area is often rented out for parties involving people from outside the neighborhood.
“We are just disgusted. Something needs to be done. And it needs to end,” said resident Fran Pollari.
This is the third time one has gotten out of control.
“We went down the road and there was a young lady who lifted her shirt to my husband and pulled her pants down,” said resident Lorraine Carollo.
Party organizers said as part of the fee, Quail Hollow was supposed to provide eight security guards, but there were only four.
A message left with Quail Hollow’s management hasn’t been returned.
We checked records and found almost 40 disturbance calls to the Quail Hollow Club house in the last couple of years.
The Pasco Sheriff’s Office released this statement Monday afternoon:
In light of last night's event at Quail Hollow, where a person was shot, another was stabbed, and two pregnant females were tramped in the chaos that ensued, we want to make it known that future large events like this will be met with a large PSO presence, including K9s.
With the apparent lack of security, which should have been provided by the promoter, at events like last night, we take our responsibility to keep our community safe very seriously. We will take every precaution to keep Pasco safe. We understand future events like this are planned and we will be prepared.
Deputies spoke to party guests in hopes of identifying the suspects involved in the shooting. They believe there are six suspects who used multiple types of guns.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help identifying the individuals in these images.
Deputies have located the White Elantra in the photos, but are still looking for the suspects. If you have any information leading to the identification and arrest of these suspects, please contact Crime Stoppers.
