DELAND, Fla. — The search is on for a masked person who shot and killed a man Thursday night.
- Man in late 50s shot and killed in DeLand
- Man was sitting with a group of 4 or 5 people
- Police don't think it was a random act
- More Volusia County news
A group of people were sitting around a campfire in a vacant lot off West Euclid Avenue when a masked man approached and started shooting, witnesses told investigators.
"It's very nasty someone would do something like this. He didn’t deserve that," said Larry Gibson, who says his younger brother was the person killed just before 6:30 p.m.
Witnesses said a man in a black ski mask and dressed all in black fired a gun at a man in the group and took off.
There was about four or five people sitting around the campfire at the time. One of them called 911.
"A Volusia County K-9 tracked him through a wooded area behind some houses and then lost the track in the roadway, so it's likely he's not out here on foot anymore. It's likely that he got into a vehicle and fled," DeLand Police Chief Jason Umberger said.
Umberger said he doesn’t think this was a random act, because the victim, a man in his late 50s, was the only one shot.
"It's definitely a concern. It's a public safety issue when you have somebody that’s going to be that brazen to fire four or five shots at a person that’s sitting around a circle with other people," Umberger said.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact DeLand Police at (386) 626-7400.