1 Dead After Teen Shot Into Car At Bradenton Motel: Manatee Sheriff

BRADENTON, FL — A teenager faces multiple charges after shooting at a 22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman sitting in a parked car outside Sunrise Inn in Bradenton early Sunday morning, according to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office news release. The woman later died from her injuries.

Kenneth Polk, 19, was arrested Sunday and charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Polk approached the victims, who drove to Manatee County from St. Petersburg, outside the motel at 668 67th Street Circle E. around 1:50 a.m., the sheriff’s office said.

After a short conversation, he shot one round through the open driver’s side window, hitting both the man and woman in the car. The single bullet went through the driver’s neck and into the woman’s chest, according to MCSO.

The victims drove themselves to Manatee Memorial Hospital, where the woman died from her injuries just before 5 a.m. The driver remained hospitalized Sunday but is expected to survive.

The driver and other witnesses identified Polk as the shooter, the sheriff’s office said.

It’s believed the victims knew him before the shooting and agreed to meet him, the agency said. The motive for the shooting is still unknown.