Authorities ID gunshot victim found in burning Orange County home

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — When firefighters arrived at the scene of an Orange County house fire Tuesday morning they found a man with gunshot wounds in front of the burning home.

Firefighters said the house, on Quincy Woods Lane in south Orange County, had smoke and fire coming from it when they arrived.

According to Orange County Sheriff's investigators, neighbors reported the fire at 4 a.m. They said a newspaper delivery man helped the gunshot victim, James Succi, 44, from the burning house.

Neighbor Jomar Landru helped pull the victim from the house.

"He was like, 'Help me move him over,' so we moved him, and we waited for the ambulance to come," said Landru. "We seriously had to drag him. If we didn't drag him there's no way he would have moved from there."

According to the Sheriff's Department, the victim was shot several times. He was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center where he was in surgery and in critical condition.

"He was shot by somebody. It's so early in the investigation. We need to talk to the victim and any other witness who may know about this," said Lt. Paul Hopkins of the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Landru said the man looked like he had been beaten up, his face was swollen.

"He was beat up, real beat up," said Landru. "His whole face was swollen. It was bad."

Neighbors said Succi didn't have any enemies, and they can't imagine why someone would do something so terrible.

"Everybody knows him as a good person," said Landru. "We are all family. This whole street, it's all family."

However, investigators don't think the shooting and fire was a random act of violence.

Deputies said Succi is expected to survive.

According to firefighters there were no other victims in the house, but a dog died in the fire.

"We're being very careful, meticulous going through the house. If there is any evidence we're working hard to preserve that," said John Mulhall of Orange County Fire Rescue.

At around 5 a.m. firefighters responded to a car fire on Sandy Oaks Lane. Sheriff's investigators believe the vehicle was stolen from the shooting victim's home and set on fire.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office and the State Fire Marshal are investigating the fire.

Detectives are asking that anyone who has information regarding the shooting please call CRIMELINE 800-423-TIPS.

WFTV