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Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler speaks Sunday at a rally against gun violence organized by the Gateway Ministerial Alliance. The rally occurred a few hours after and a couple blocks away from an incident where four people were injured by gunfire. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)
Four people were injured Sunday morning in a shooting several hours before a community event against gun violence began.
According to a Lake City Police Department release, four people were shot on NW Alma Avenue around 11:05 a.m. Sunday. A community rally against gun violence was held at 3 p.m. at the intersection of NW Long Street and NW Georgia Avenue, which is just several blocks away. Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler and Columbia County Sheriff Mark Hunter took part in the rally, which was sponsored by the Gateway Ministerial Alliance.
Ron Williams II, one of the organizers of the rally, told the crowd of around 100 people, that the gunshots were ringing out as they were assembling the tent the rally was held in.
According to the LCPD, when officers and CCSO deputies arrived at the scene of the shooting, they found four male victims, one with a wound to the shoulder, one with a wound to the neck, one with a wound to the leg and the other with a wound to the stomach.
All four victims were transported to a local hospital for treatment, three then transferred to an area trauma unit, the release states.
At 12:21 p.m., another call was received by the Lake City communications center concerning gunfire, this time on SE Avalon Avenue, which is a block away from Melrose Park Elementary School. Nobody was injured in the second shooting, but the LCPD release states the description of the vehicle involved in the shootings from witnesses at both scenes matched.
Both crime scenes were processed by LCPD investigators with the assistance of crime scene technicians from the CCSO.
Following the rally with concerned residents, Butler said no additional information was known about the incidents earlier Sunday.