Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Second Man Sought After Drive-By Shooting of Boy, 4

Detectives are searching for two people they want to talk to in connection with the shooting, that left a Bradenton 4-year-old hospitalized which a head wound.

Update:

Detectives are looking for an additional person they would like to talk to in connection to a drive-by shooting that left a 4-year-old Bradenton boy seriously injured.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office is trying to find a man who was seen running near the crime scene after the shooting, which happened around 11 a.m. Saturday at a home on 36th Avenue Drive West, officials said.

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He is described as a white man of unknown age with short, blond hair and tattoos on his right arm and right shoulder. He was wearing blue jean shorts and was shirtless but carrying what appeared to be a black shirt, according to authorities.

"Detectives want to talk to this person to see what he witnessed in connection with the shooting," sheriff's spokesperson Dave Bristow said in an email to media.

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Earlier:

The 4-year-old victim in a Bradenton drive-by shooting is still hospitalized, and detectives are still searching for a person of interest in the case, authorities said Wednesday.

The boy was caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting that occurred on 36th Avenue West, Bradenton at 11 a.m. Saturday. He was reportedly in his bedroom at the time of the shooting and suffered bullet wound to the head.

The boy will be hospitalized for about three to four more weeks and there are concerns about his vision, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday. Reports that the boy lost an eye are incorrect, a sheriff's spokesperson Dave Bristow said.

Meanwhile, detectives are still seeking to talk to Horatio Papillion, 20, who they say is a person of interest in the case. Papillion may have been in a vehicle that the shots came from.

It's believed the shots were intended for another vehicle and that one of the rounds happened to enter the home of the boy and his mother, Bristow said.

Anyone with information on the case or the whereabouts of Papillion is asked to contact Detective Darryl Davis at 747-3011, ext. 2535, or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS.


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