As gunfire erupted in a Lake County home with a grandmother and two children inside, one man was shot trying to protect his kids while they were in their beds.
Neighbors in Eustis awoke to the sound of sheriff's helicopters flying overhead around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday as deputies looked for the suspect. Deputies on the ground used K-9 police dogs to track through neighborhoods after the shooting at a home on Kensington Street, east of State Road 19 and north of East Orange Avenue.
The shooter remains at large. Eustis police have named a person of interest, 29-year-old Andrew "Smurf" Woodruff, in connection with the shooting. If you have any information regarding Woodruff, call CrimeLine at (800) 423-TIPS (8477).
Meanwhile, crime scene technicians have turned their attention to the home, collecting what appeared to be numerous shell casings, and marking bullet holes in windows and doors all around the home.
Eustis police said a 29-year-old father was shot in the leg. They did not immediately identify the man, but a friend of the family told us he is a single dad working two jobs while caring for his mother, and he did all he could to protect his children Tuesday morning.
"That's why it happened to him, because when you are protecting your baby, you can't run," said family friend Stacey Williams. "Early in the morning, for somebody who is totally innocent, especially in this community."
The father was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center. His condition was not immediately known.
Neither the children, nor their grandmother was hurt in the shooting.
Police would not immediately comment on a possible motive, but family members said the only thing they could think of was that a relative had a feud with somebody, and there may have been a case of mistaken identity or some sort of retaliation.