ORLANDO, Fla. – A man shot and injured two teenagers who were breaking into his car in an Orange County neighborhood, according to sheriff’s officials.
The shooting was reported around 2 a.m. on Martinwood Drive near Elderwood Lane, south of Silver Star Road in Pine Hills.
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The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called to the 2000 block of Martinwood Drive and talked to a man who said he confronted two teens, ages 13 and 16, who were burglarizing his car. The man said the teens made threatening movements toward him, and he fired several shots, according to authorities.
The 13-year-old “has a wound to his hand” and the 16-year-old suffered a “gunshot wound on his body,” sheriff’s officials said in a statement.
Maria Vaszques said her son was forced to open fire to defend himself.
“He said ‘Aye, what you doing? What you want In my car,’” Vazquez said. “My son said (one of the teen’s had) something and he put something in his face.”
The sheriff’s office told us a stolen gun was found near one of those injured teens.
The teens were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, deputies said.
Investigators said the man who fired the shots told them his car had been broken into several weeks before the shooting, though it went unreported. One of the teens injured Thursday allegedly “had evidence from the other burglary on their person when he was shot,” officials said.
Investigators haven’t yet said where the teens were standing when the man opened fire.
Overnight, News 6 saw evidence markers lining the street and detectives walking the scene searching for evidence.
Vazquez said her son is still shaken up.
“My son is a good person, he works a lot here,” she said.
The mother added it’s the second time this month someone broke into their family cars.
Detectives confirm that one of the teens had evidence from that previous burglary in their possession Thursday morning, but wouldn’t specify what they found.
UPDATE: @OrangeCoSheriff says a man confronted two people who were burglarizing his car. That man said the suspects made threatening movements and he opened fire. Two juveniles were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. https://t.co/uS79Oqa6yu pic.twitter.com/BzZauFDmQr
— Mark Lehman (@MarkLehman6) April 28, 2022