2 scenes see massive deputy response, family says home was tear-gassed

Update: The Lee County Sheriff’s Office will update the public on Friday regarding the progress of the two scenes, stating that the case has “progressed quite nicely.”

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The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is not saying much about two connected crime scenes, one of which saw a house raided where one person was taken into custody after he was smoked out with tear gas.

Both scenes in Tice were cleared by Thursday evening, before dawn.

Earlier, detectives took photos of a home at 320 Prospect Ave. and carried several bins out of it after detaining the man.

The family who lives there said deputies ransacked their home in a search for someone or something and took their brother into custody, who was hiding in the attic.

LCSO has not confirmed his identity, and the family said they had no idea why they were after him.

A woman who lives at the home but is not related said she feared for her daughter’s life.

“I was about to have a panic attack,” she said.

The first scene was at Shandler Hall Park, just down the road from the home.

Scores of deputies were seen responding to the park as early as 6:30 in the morning and focused their attention near a playground.

WINK News counted more than 20 deputies at the Tice scene, at one point.

LCSO also had both a helicopter and drone scanning the area.

Deputies arrived at the home on Prospect Avenue around 9 a.m., and it was also a massive response.

Neighbors told us that law enforcement had been out at the park for hours.

WINK News contacted the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer, who stated that this was an active investigation.

Deputies were seen speaking with neighbors near the park.

Neighbors WINK News spoke with are worried and said there have been prior deaths at this park, but they’ve never seen a law enforcement response like this one.

“We’ve seen a lot of cops in and out,” said nearby resident Esmeralda Zamora. “Everything was roped off. They weren’t letting anybody in the park. After I went to go drop off my son and came back, the whole street was flooded. We have at least maybe 35 cop cars, maybe 40 here right now, and they’re not giving us any clue of what happened. We’re just residents here, and we’re worried.”

“Once I woke up, I seen all the cops everywhere, like, surrounding the hole, like Park, like it’s blocked off. No kids can go, like, to their bus stop. It’s literally crazy,” said resident Angela Ganona.

The scenes were cleared as of 6 p.m.