911 call released in Cocoa fatal shooting

COCOA, Fla. — Authorities continue to search for a suspect after a mother of three was shot to death and her mother was injured at an apartment complex in Cocoa.

The shooting happened early Monday afternoon at the Longwood apartment complex on Clearlake Road.

The slain woman has been identified as Lydia Bradford, a mother of three.

Authorities released the 911 calls Tuesday.

Dispatcher: "She was shot?"

"Please hurry, please hurry. yeah, both of them has been shot, please, please hurry! You can see it, she's laying on the floor," said the caller.

Family members said the injured woman was Bradford's mother, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to a local hospital, where her condition has not been released.

Friends told WFTV that  Bradford was getting ready for a birthday party for her daughter, who turned seven Monday, when gunfire erupted.

WFTV learned Bradford's three children were inside the apartment at the time of the shooting, along with a neighbor's child, but they didn't see what happened. The children heard the gunshots and ran to a neighbor's home for help.

Authorities recovered a gun nearby, but they didn't say whether it was the weapon used in the shootings.

Law enforcement then searched several buildings at nearby Cambridge Elementary School, but they didn't find the gunman. School was not in session, due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Bradford's aunt, Lisa Rhynes-Partlow, said she has no idea what could have prompted the shootings.

"It's too early to tell if this was domestic, if this was random," said Barbara Matthews of the Cocoa Police Department. "At this time, we don't know."

Rhynes-Partlow said Bradford loved her children and family, but they can't make sense of the tragic situation.

"We're just trying to make sense of it all and support our sister who's in surgery and find out which way the kids are going to go and be here for each other," she said.

Anyone with information in connection to the shootings is asked to contact authorities.

The Department of Children and Families was called in to speak to the children and deal with their placement, but relatives said they're hoping to care for them.

WFTV