ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A disgruntled former barbershop employee was shot when he showed up at the east Orange County shop looking for trouble Saturday evening, deputies told WFTV.
Officials said more than a dozen deputies and emergency rescue crews responded to the One Cut Barber Shop near Colonial Drive and Dean Road just after 6:00 p.m. Saturday.
Investigators told WFTV the former employee came to the barbershop looking for the owner and armed with a gun. While in the shop, the suspect pulled out the gun and threatened an employee with it, deputies said. The man then ran out the back door and came around to the front, leading to the exchange in gunfire.
"The gunfire erupted in front of the store,” Capt. Angelo Nieves of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said, “because one of the employees inside the store did have a firearm, he defended himself and the customers inside the store."
Authorities said the suspect sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was hit by a car when he attempted to flee onto Colonial Drive.
“The suspect then ran from the business out on Colonial, where he was struck by a vehicle, and at that point dropped his firearm," Nieves said.
The suspect, who has not been identified, was taken to the hospital and was in surgery as of late Saturday night. Deputies have not said what condition the man is in.
The sheriff’s office shut down a westbound section of Colonial Drive, from the barber shop to Dean Road, after the shooting. The road has since reopened.
Detectives told WFTV they questioned several people and some of them were detained for a couple of hours.
The barbershop is part of a four-shop strip, which also includes a massage parlor, a tattoo shop and a Goodyear Auto Center.
Officials said a bullet hit a passing car, but no one in the vehicle was hurt.
The shooting remains under investigation, deputies said. Stay with WFTV and WFTV.com for the latest on this story.