Steven Schelmety, 32, was shot and killed at an auto repair shop around 11:30 p.m. Friday, according to Lakeland police. His wife told News Channel 8 he was sitting at his desk and she was nearby. A person police would not identify was wounded in the incident at Artillery Motor Sports, 3609 Century Blvd., in an industrial area across Drane Field Road from Lakeland’s airport. About 30 bullet holes were counted at the business’ entrance.
Lakeland Police Chief Larry Giddens says his officers were following procedure when they fired into a moving vehicle, resulting in the death of a teen who tried to run them down early Wednesday. But many police agencies, including some in the Tampa Bay area, restrict firing into a moving vehicle, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The Interdenominational Ministerial Association, representing churches mostly in northwest Lakeland, held a news conference this morning to ask for calm as a police-involved shooting is investigated. The group asks that those who witnessed the incident cooperate with police. Lakeland police officers shot and killed a 17-year-old Winter Haven teen they say was trying to run them over and endangering others gathered in a parking lot at Florida and Memorial around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Police approached the stolen Camaro around 2 a.m. as they monitored a crowd of 200 in the parking lot of Salem’s Gyros and More at Florida Avenue and Memorial Boulevard | VIDEO: Chief Giddens news conference.
UPDATE: Police have identified the dead driver as Michael Jerome Taylor, 17, of 3741 Imperial Drive, Winter Haven, who has four felony arrests ranging from burglary to grand theft auto.
Myron William Ernst is suspected in the robbery of the TD Bank at 6108 US 98 North on Oct. 12 just before 1 p.m. The robber gave a bank employee a note saying he had a gun; after he was given money, the robber fled in a late-model, dark gray Ford F-150 pickup.
“We just keep asking, ‘Why? Why did this happen over $16?’ It has been so hard for our family—not only the loss that’s left a gaping hole in all of our hearts—but also to see our brother’s killer be released from jail, granted the right to travel, pretending that he was in some way the victim, when my brother will never celebrate another Christmas with his family,” writes Veronica Lopez. Her brother Christobal was shot and killed by former City Commissioner Michael Dunn Oct. 3 when he was trying to leave Dunn’s store with a hatchet he hadn’t paid for.
The judge who placed former City Commissioner Michael Dunn on house arrest after he was indicted on second-degree murder charges now says he can take a previously arranged trip to Savannah next month to celebrate his anniversary. He is also allowing Dunn to travel to Orlando to meet with lawyers.
The victims were identified as Antero Araujo Quintana, 40, and his wife, Beatriz Araujo, 42. The shootings took place Wednesday evening at in the 2000 block of 10th Street W.
Two teens were arrested early today in one of two armed robberies that have led to increased patrols in downtown Lakeland, the Lakeland Police Department announced. More
