LAKELAND, Fla. — Polk County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) announced June 13 the arrest of a 16-year-old from Lakeland, who is charged with several felonies, including attempted first-degree murder.
Detectives arrested the Lakeland teen who they said planned a fight with another teen via social media messages. He then showed up to the fight with a gun and opened fire.
No one was harmed during the incident, according to PCSO.
The investigation began on April 2, when PCSO received a call from a local roofing business where employees arrived at work and found spent shell casings on the ground.
After reviewing the company's security footage, investigators located a silver Chevrolet Malibu arriving and parking. An unidentified individual at the time approached the car on foot and shot at it multiple times until the car fled. The suspect then fled.
Detectives identified the driver of the Malibu as a 19-year-old from Lakeland.
On April 9, deputies pulled the Malibu driver over for a traffic stop, who initially lied about the incident before admitting he arrived in the area of the shooting to fight with someone with whom he had been texting back and forth.
After obtaining search warrants for the driver's cell phone and social media accounts, detectives uncovered an Instagram group message thread.
Authorities identified the teen as one of the Instagram users within the group chat, and by witnesses who were shown the video surveillance of the shooting.
During the execution of a search warrant of the 16-year-old suspect's home, detectives found a loaded gun with an extended magazine containing 28 rounds, modified with a "switch" that illegally alters it to be fired in a fully automatic way, according to PCSO.
Investigators said the teen suspect admitted to owning the gun, ordering the switch online, and installing it himself. They also said he told detectives when shooting it, he "felt like Superman."
The 16-year-old faces charges of first-degree attempted murder, possession of a machine gun, among other felony charges.
Pasco County woman trying to rebuild mobile home after hurricanes
"I cried, of course, because I've worked very hard getting it nice, which has been difficult for me since I lost my husband and being alone,” Kelly Welty said.
Welty's mobile home lost its roof during Hurricane Milton. She said it was the only one in the Buena Vista community to get totaled by a tornado.
