Home invasion robbery leads to 1 person injured in Pine Manor

Published: Updated:
The scene of a shooting investigation on 8th Avenue in Pine Manor. Credit: WINK News

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a home invasion robbery that left a man injured in the Pine Manor community on Thursday morning.

According to Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, two suspects wearing masks and gloves ambushed a man who was taking their trash out. The fight moved into his apartment where one suspect shot him inside.

Marceno said they have two people of interest they are speaking with but no arrests yet.

The victim was taken to the hospital and their condition is unknown at this time.

The incident happened at a home on 8th Avenue.

The neighborhood has seen its fair share of violence.

“They had that shooting last week up on Sixth and they asked me if I heard something and it’s the same thing I get up in the middle of the night to my dogs,” said Julie Fortin, a nearby neighbor.

Victor Lopez, a neighbor who called 911, said his neighbor knocked on his door and told him their brother had been shot.

Lopez said seconds later he saw the victim, a man in his late 20s, lying in a pool of blood and in bad shape.

Hours later, crime scene technicians were still on scene packing up several boxes of evidence.

“It’s concerning because what divides our apartments is a thin piece of sheet rock and a bullet could just come through the wall and hit one of my kids or my wife, a bullet could’ve come in and killed them,” Lopez said. “It’s like a violent area here.”

A quick check of WINK News archives shows since 2019, there haven at least 13 major crimes in Pine Manor, from murders to drug busts and armed robberies.

Marceno is now proposing extra patrols.

“You guys should all be able to sit out here and enjoy Florida, enjoy peace and quiet and safety and security and law and order and I can guarantee you they will,” Marceno said. “I’m not going to listen to people saying crime manor. It’s not happening, the games over. For those few people who want to make it crime manor, my message: Leave while you can.”

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