1 Man Dead, 2 Children Injured During Shooting In Dade City

DADE CITY, FL — An investigation is underway after a man was killed and two children were injured when shots were fired in Dade City Wednesday afternoon.

According to Pasco County Sheriff's Maj. Jeffrey Peake, two teen girls began fist fighting in the Johns Road area off River Road in Dade City.

He said a number of people gathered to watch the fight. At some point, one or more people began firing a gun, he said.

A bullet struck an 11-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl and the father of the 11-year-old boy, all of whom were watching the fight. The father has died. Peake said he doesn't have information on the conditions of the 11-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl.

"This is the worst nightmare for any parent, right?, to hear this, to hear their child was involved in a shooting, to lose a parent involved in a shooting," Peake said.

Peake said the sheriff's office assisted by the Dade City Police Department is still interviewing witnesses at the scene and at the hospital to determine exactly what happened. At this point, there have been no arrests.

"We'll get to the bottom of this and understand exactly what happened. We don't want to speculate until we have all the facts," Peake said, adding, "I want to put out our prayers and our thoughts to the victims and their families. This case is very troubling, very disturbing."

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's tip line at 1-800-706-2488 or report tips online at PascoSheriff.com/tips.