LAKE WALES, Fla. — The Lake Wales Police Department is investigating two deadly shootings that happened on Sunday night in the same housing complex just hours apart.
The police department said there's no known motive for the first shooting at this time, but the second appears to be in retaliation to the first.
According to a press release, the first shooting happened around 8 p.m. and the second around 11:45 p.m. Both took place at the Lake Wales Housing Authority Grove Manor complex.
Officers responded to 303 N. First Street Apartment B for the first shooting. Witnesses told police they went inside the apartment and found Rhasaan Marquese Johnson, 23, shot inside. He was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The witnesses said when they went inside the apartment, they saw Kendrick Akins, 24, who left the area shortly after the witnesses got there.
Detectives started to search for Akins as a person of interest in that shooting when, around 11:45 p.m., they got a tip that he was walking near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Sessoms Avenue. As they searched for him, detectives heard multiple shots.
The detectives ran toward the shooting, police said, and found Akins lying on the sidewalk with multiple wounds. The officers attempted to render aid, a release said, but Akins died at the scene.
Police said the two men knew each other and were both from Lake Wales.
There is a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect in the second shooting.
If you have any information regarding either of these shootings, please contact the Lake Wales Police Department at 863-678-4223. Or, if you would like to remain anonymous and be eligible for a CASH REWARD through Heartland Crime Stoppers, call 1-800-226-TIPS (8477).
You can also dial **TIPS on your cell phone or visit the website www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com and click on “Submit a Tip” or download the free “P3tips” app on your smartphone or tablet to submit a tip.
