WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — A party on America’s birthday turned deadly overnight.
Just before midnight on Monday, officers responded to a call of shots fired along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between 2nd Street Northeast and 5th Street East and found one man dead with a gunshot wound.
"It wasn’t just a random thing. It was a sad event for those were that involved," Winter Haven Police Chief David Brannan said.
Winter Haven Mayor Brad Dantzler said the pop up block party was unexpected and unplanned. It started with around 20 people and grew quickly.
"This was private property. This was a vacant lot on private property and it’s what they call a pop up party or a pop up event of some sort. I think these things just sort of happen on social media," he said.
Hundreds of people were at the block party.
Neighbors said parties like this are not the first time it turns violent.
"When everybody should be done and go home, I got a bullet in my home," Frances Campbell said, a person who lives near the block party area.
Her home is across the road and now has bullet holes in her property after a similar party on Martin Luther King Day ended with violence years ago.
"We have this all the time on holiday, but I've been here this long, I can't move. We just have to live like this and hope we don't get killed in our own house," Campbell said.
After this latest death, the city wants to crack down on block parties in vacant lots.
"When you’re talking about private property, people gathering on private property, there’s not a lot you can do truthfully, but we’re trying and actively looking for any options and solutions we can get because it’s really not fair to the people that live out there," Dantzler said.
As a family mourns, Dantlzer pleads to the community with the hope someone will come forward.
"We need help finding out exactly what happened out there. This type of violence, people dying, it’s just not acceptable and we’ve got to do something," he said.
The shooter has not yet been found and a $5000 reward for any information that may lead to an arrest is being offered.
You can call 1-800-266-8477 or dial **TIPS on your cell phone to contact authorities. You may also submit a tip online here.