One shot, vehicle riddled with bullets in Fort Myers shooting

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Fort Myers Police Chief Dennis Eads was at Michigan Avenue near Mohawk Avenue where a shooting left one man with injuries and a truck riddled with more than a dozen bullet holes Thursday.

Police said late Thursday evening that a man was shot and is being treated with non-life threatening injuries. Additional information about the victim has not yet been released.

Eads arrived on the scene and was seen speaking with residents in the area. He told reporters he was patrolling the community just minutes before gunshots rang out.

Fort Myers police shut down a block on Michigan Avenue around 6 p.m. as they investigated the shooting. The block on the street was reopened around 7 p.m.

Neighbors said they heard up to 25 gunshots around 5 p.m. and believed they were hearing a military-style weapon.

“Multiple times – this was like an army shots,” one neighbor, Carmelo Rosario said. “It sounded like a machine gun but it must have been a pretty good machine gun.”

Crime scene units and police dogs were at the scene investigating Thursday night. There were also evidence markers on the street.

“I counted 18 gunshots on the vehicle and a gunshot hit the house and a gunshot the vehicle behind me,” a resident, Joseph Baby said.

Neighbors said they believe the incident was a retaliation shooting and want violent feuds to end. Baby said he is concerned about more violence.

“That’s what bothers me,” Baby said. ‘If they did it this time, who knows what they do next time? Just let it go – all this retaliation and just let bygones be bygones.”