Detectives in Citrus County are now focusing their attention on juveniles allegedly firing a weapon in a wooded area near the home of a Homosassa woman killed by a stray bullet last week.
“It was very traumatic,” said Lisa Sutherland, who heard the gunshots and then the yelling and wailing that followed.
A stray bullet had struck and killed 58-year-old Sandra Ryder as she and her husband John worked in the yard behind their house.
“I wouldn’t think it would be intentional,” said Sutherland, “But it’s just horrible.”
“It was just so sad to hear we’ve lost a neighbor,” said Vicky Yingling. Yingling says husband also heard the shots. At least there, she said.
“Well, it just worries me because our backyard is very open,” said Yingling. “And, if somebody shooting off guns, and not aiming like at a target for practice or whatever, yes it concerns me.”
The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office now says its focusing on a group of juveniles who they believe were firing a gun in a wooded area not far from the subdivision where Ryder was killed.
Neighbors say they could hear the gunshots coming from a 100-acre property right behind their development.
It had not been a problem in the past, they say, but over the past couple of years, they’ve been hearing the gunfire a lot more often.
“Oh, yeah, there is a lot. And what really is strange is that even the day before – or rather the day after the incident, there were shots fired,” said neighbor Jim Dingwall. “And I said to myself, don’t these people ever learn?”
Dingwall lives right next door to the Ryders. He says his gut told him right away it was probably teenagers living close by.
“Probably whoever got this gun had gotten older, because they were just children when we moved in. And they didn’t have access to that,” said Dingwall.
The Citrus Sheriff’s Office says it’s conducting ballistics tests and processing other forensic evidence, but that it’s not yet clear whether their young suspects would be charged as adults.
As rural a community as it is, neighbors say firing shots that close to their homes was a disaster waiting to happen. And now - sadly - it had.
“I feel in my heart that unless you are in a particular ground that is made for hunting, or whatever. I think if you want to practice shooting a gun, I think you should do that at a shooting range,” said Yingling.
“You have to pay the price if that is what you were going to do,” said Dingwall.
The Citrus Sheriff’s office said it has identified the juveniles involved but is not yet naming them since - at this point - no charges had been filed.
“To some extent, there should be some punishment,” said Sutherland. “They have to learn from their mistakes. Even if it was random. It still people’s lives that you're affecting.”
