The Osceola County Sheriff's Office is currently searching for the gunman who shot a person in the face at a West U.S. Highway 192 Wednesday morning, and Sheriff Marcos Lopez said another person involved, likely the shooter is on the run.
Deputies say the shooting was the result of an altercation between two people, although they're still investigating whether both were armed and it was a two-way shootout.
The shooting occurred just after 8 a.m. adjacent to the Arlington Hotel near the Old Vineland Road's western intersection with 192. The male victim was shot in the face and is at a local hospital in critical condition, Sheriff Lopez said, also noting the area has a reputation of being an area with a high level of drug and crime activity.
"Some people said it was a shootout, some people said it was one shooter, a lot of people fled. I would have, too," Lopez said. "We're not sure if the victim was staying here (at the hotel). This is known as a drug hotel so things happen in the parking lot. We haven't had activity here in a couple months, then this popped up."
The suspect is a black male, but Lopez said they, "Don't have much on him" right now.
"Could he be black, could he be dark-skinned Hispanic? We really don't know 100 percent," he said. "We're working to look at all available video cameras to pinpoint who is involved. The victim could have been defending himself, we don't know these things yet. It's an isolated incident from what we know."
Check back to AroundOsceola.com for further updates in this developing story.
