10 wounded in drive-by shooting in Lakeland, Florida, police say

At least 10 people were injured in a drive-by shooting on Monday afternoon in Lakeland, Florida, police said.

They were still looking for the shooters Tuesday morning.

Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor said at a news conference Monday evening that investigators believed the shooting was targeted, not random.

Taylor said two people were in critical condition. One was in surgery and the other was “either in surgery or headed to surgery” at the time of the press conference. One of them had been shot in the abdomen and the other suffered a gunshot wound to the “jaw area,” Taylor said.

An additional eight people had injuries that were not life-threatening, he said. One of them suffered a ricochet wound, Taylor said.

All the victims were adult males “described as between the ages of 20 and 35,” Taylor said. 

“This is something that doesn’t happen in Lakeland,” he said. “It actually saddens me to some extent that, we consider ourselves to be a small town situated between Tampa and Orlando, and when stuff like this happens, it just kind of hits home with me a little bit. Maybe we’re not a small town anymore.”

Taylor said the shooting happened at about 3:45 p.m., and that gunfire came from all four windows of a slow-moving four-door Nissan. The car was described as being dark blue with tinted windows and a temporary tag.