A shooting Thursday evening at Showalter Park in Century, Florida, left one man dead and another injured, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies responded to a shots-fired call around 6:30 p.m. and found an adult male with gunshot wounds in a parking area between a ball field and a children’s playground. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A second adult male victim arrived on his own at Jay Hospital with a through-and-through gunshot wound to the leg that was not believed to be life-threatening, according to Sgt. Melony Peterson of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Simmons said a group of seven to eight people, some from Alabama and some from Florida, had gathered at the park reportedly to fight over a girl. He described a scene in which two people were fighting while others gathered around watching. Investigators have identified a suspect but had not issued an arrest warrant as of Friday afternoon.
“We do have a suspect; I’m not at liberty to say that’s the shooter yet, but we do have a suspect and we are following up on the information that we have on who that suspect might be,” Simmons said. He added that there has been “some cooperation” with investigators from people who were on the scene.
The sheriff also said shots were fired into a nearby home a short time after the park shooting, in what investigators believe may have been retaliation. That incident remains under investigation as well.
The gunfire rattled a nearby park where youth activities were underway. Youth football and cheerleading practices were taking place a short distance away at Anthony Pleasant Park, which is connected to Showalter Park by a trail and footbridge. Practices were halted after many people reported hearing multiple gunshots, and people left the park out of caution, according to Century Blackcats Youth Football and Cheerleading. The names of the victims have not been released, and no suspects have been publicly identified as the investigation continues.