A man thought to be the victim of a robbery of prescription pills, may be a dealer himself. Police are investigating a shooting in Lake City where two people were shot, both of whom are giving similar, but different stories. There were two 9-1-1 calls about two people who had been shot by a man wearing a mask. Police say one of the calls involved a robbery of prescription pills by a stranger, and the other call, was made by the second victim's sister, who says the two men are friends.
Jennie Jarrell is the older sister to Robert Vandevoren, one of the two men shot last night. Jarrell says she and her brother hang out at the house; where the shooting occurred around 9pm last night. The homeowner, 53 year old Sonny Jenkins, told police he'd been robbed by a white man wearing a mask who demanded prescription pills and money. Jenkins told officers he fired two shots at the intruder, one hitting his own arm, and the other police believe hit Jarrell's brother Robert.
A passerby, who doesn't want to be identified, told me he wasn't surprised to hear about what happened at the house last night. He said, "in five minutes time there was three different cars that came up here and run in and come back out in no time at all in the last month I've seen a lot of people go in there, it just has to be drug sales going on."
Police say it's not unusual for older people to be robbed of their prescription pills, but there is a flip side. Captain John Blanchard of The Lake City Police Department says, "there's another faction of people that have these illnesses and access to these drugs they then sell them to supplement their income, it's very lucrative." The investigation is still ongoing and until they have more physical evidence, Captain Blanchard says they cannot make any arrests. Both men received minor injuries from the shooting, both are in the hospital, and both are being watched by police.