8 shot during MLK Day celebration

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Eight people, including a child, were shot Monday during a Martin Luther King Jr. car show event, local authorities said.

The shooting happened around 5:20 p.m. at Ilous Ellis Park, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.

Eight adults were shot and four others — one of whom was a child — were injured fleeing the scene, Tonya Woodworth, sheriff’s spokesperson, confirmed Monday evening. One of the people shot was seriously injured, she said.

The shooting happened after a disagreement between two people, according to a 10:30 p.m. update from the Sheriff’s Office.

More than 1,000 people were at the event, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Brian Hester

“It’s sad that during celebration of someone who represented peace and equality that a disagreement resulted in a use of guns and violence to solve that disagreement,” Hester said. “So many innocent people were injured or hurt that were not part of the disagreement.”

Hester referred to the scene as mass chaos.

“There were people laying behind cars,” he said. “It was kind of hard to tell who a victim was and who was just hiding.”

As of 10 p.m. Monday, no one was charged for the mass shooting, Woodworth said.