KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Two people were shot at a mall in Kissimmee Tuesday evening and the suspects in the shooting died a short time later in a car crash, according to police.
Police said that officers responded to reports of shots fired at the Plaza del Sol, formerly know as the Osceola Square Mall, on West Vine Street.
According to police, two people suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.
A fist fight inside the mall led to the gunfire, said authorities, leaving the doors of the mall shattered by the spray of bullets.
"It was rapid fire, but he took pauses between shooting," said Joshua Vega, who witnessed the shooting.
"They're shooting, they're shooting. They shot, they shot everyone," a caller told a 911 dispatcher. Police quickly evacuated the mall.
"Everybody outside the mall was just in shock," said eyewitness Ervin Santos.
According to police, the man who called 911 was involved in the argument and his father and sister-in-law were hit in the gunfire.
Lisset Ortiz, was hit twice in her leg and Alejandro Laureano, who was with Ortiz, was struck in the arm.
"She was in dire pain. I mean, she was shaking from shock. She was starting to slowly pass out," said Vega.
A security guard told WFTV that the fight started over comments made to a Ortiz.
"He fired at the crowd," said the mall store security officer, said of the shooter.
The security guard said the Ortiz stepped into the line of fire to protect her young son from being shot.
"She had him and she guarded him by putting herself between her and the bullet. She obviously got hit in the leg," said the mall store security officer.
After the shooting, the security guard rushed to render first aid to the Ortiz.
"She was shaking. I believe she was going in shock. She lost a lot of blood," he said.
The suspects fled the scene in a white Saturn, authorities said.
Their vehicle crashed into another car about three miles from the mall. The men inside died from what appeared to be crash-related injuries, said Stacie Miller of the Kissimmee Police Department.
Chris Guzman's step-father, Fernely Torres, was driving the car that was hit by the shooting suspects' vehicle. Torres was hospitalized with minor injuries.
"It was instant karma and the work of God," said Guzman. "This is like a movie. It feels like a movie, to be honest."
The security guard said he ID'd the two men killed in the car crash as the men who were involved in the shooting.
On Wednesday investigators the men as Fabrice Buteau, 24, and Walker Jeralds, 21. Both had criminal records in Osceola County.
WFTV
