Woman dead, 2 arrested after dispute between gang members leads to shooting in Polk County, sheriff says

MULBERRY, Fla. – A woman is dead after being shot early Thursday during a dispute between rival gang members in Polk County, according to Sheriff Grady Judd.

The shooting occurred in Willow Oak, near Mulberry, and centered on what Judd called a “cranker colony,” prefacing his characterization of the three people involved — Mary Dino, 28; Jose Coronado, 34; and Joshua Clark, 35 — as playing some part in the meth trade.

Dino was said to be a passenger in a vehicle driven to the scene by Coronado, who Judd described as her boyfriend. With he and Clark arriving in separate cars, an argument between Clark and Coronado led the latter to reach into his vehicle and retrieve a firearm, allegedly shooting Dino in the process of doing so, Judd said during a news conference Thursday morning.

“Why did he grab a firearm? Because Joshua Clark, who by the way is a felon, always carries one. As Coronado grabs his firearm, it discharges,” Judd said. “(...) He said, ‘Are you hit?’ And she said, ‘Yes.’ He pulls out of the car with his firearm and starts shooting at Joshua Clark, blaming him for the reason that he shot his girlfriend, and then they have a gunfight, and they leave.”

Coronado eventually brought Dino to the area of Pine Grove and Ryals roads, where he allegedly placed her in the tailgate of a truck while urging those nearby to take her to the hospital.

“(He) tells the people there, ‘Take her to the hospital, dial 911, I gotta go, I got a warrant.’ In fact, he does. He’s got a failure to appear warrant for trafficking in methamphetamine out of Hillsborough County, and he flees,” Judd said.

Polk deputies located Coronado’s vehicle some 20 miles away on Highway 17, north of Fort Meade, where a pursuit ended in a PIT maneuver and Coronado’s arrest, Judd said.

Clark was still at large at the time of the news conference, but he was arrested before 1:30 p.m. Thursday, according to an update from the sheriff’s office.

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