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Search still on for gunman in Apopka Easter party shooting

APOPKA, Fla. — A man pulled out a gun and opened fire at an Easter party Sunday evening in Apopka, leaving one man critically injured, police said.

The SWAT team fired tear gas into a home on 10th Street, where they thought the gunman had holed up, but no one was there, authorities said.

Police said the man they are looking for, Wilfred Gregory, 33, has a long criminal history.

They said he cut off his GPS monitoring device 30 minutes after shooting the man.

"We have all our efforts focused on locating Mr. Gregory. He's a very dangerous convicted felon (with a) blatant disregard for the public and we have a grave concern for citizens and their safety," said Ed Chittenden of the Apopka Police Department.

Veronica Reese said she wasn't sure what was going on when she heard the commotion on her street.

"It kind of shook the house too. I thought it was thunder, but I said, 'No, that's not thunder,'" said Reese.

Police said Gregory shot Calvin Johnson in the back, and after Johnson fell to the ground, Gregory shot him in the head at the party near Alonzo Williams Park.

Gregory was able to get lost in the crowd of hundreds of people and police said they thought he slipped away to a family member's home on 10th Street.

However, police said they are now not sure if Gregory was ever in the home.

"At this point, we don't have him in custody. He is considered armed and dangerous," said Steve Popp of the Apopka Police Department.

He was ordered to wear the GPS monitoring system on March 11 when he bonded out of the Orange County Jail on domestic battery and larceny charges. Gregory was being monitored by Court Programs of Florida, a private monitoring company.

He was confined to his home for a curfew during the hours of 8 p.m. and 7 a.m.

"We've been dealing with Mr. Gregory for years. This is 16 pages of arrest history," said Popp, holding several pages of police reports.

Apopka police said no one had notified them of the security breach six hours after the shooting. Police say the president of the GPS monitoring company, Marcel Aponte, drove to Marden Meadows Road around 2 a.m. Monday, tracked the device and recovered it on the side of the road.

Police said Aponte turned the device over to them 12 hours later. He was questioned about it Monday afternoon.

"I would think a prudent person would contact law enforcement right away," said Chittenden.

Police said Gregory is considered armed and dangerous.

Johnson is reported to be in critical but stable condition after undergoing surgery Monday morning.