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Police: Brother of boy shot in home invasion witnessed 2015 Lake City park shooting

A 14-year-old boy is recovering after a gunman kicked his way into his home and shot him while he was doing his homework.

The shooting happened just before 10 p.m. Tuesday at a home on NE Webster Avenue in Lake City.

Neighbor Mildred Ford was home at the time of the invasion.

“My boyfriend said he heard something like a thump sound,” Ford said.

“Our officers were on scene at 9:54. What they found when they came up to the residence was the front door kicked in. There was glass all over the ground from the front door,” said Sgt. Craig Strickland with the Lake City Police Department.

Strickland said there were three people inside the home: the 14-year-old boy, who was doing his homework, his 16-year-old brother and their uncle. Strickland said the gunman fired one shot, striking the 14-year-old in the neck.

“Through and through the back of the neck. The back of the meaty area and it missed his spine, missed his skull. He’s a very, very lucky young man,” Strickland said.

Strickland said the shooter had on black clothing and was wearing a mask. The incident has neighbors like Ford, who has lived in the area for nearly 60 years, taking caution. Now as police investigate, she has one message.

“Turn yourself in. Do the right thing. You know, because that was a child,” Ford said.

The home invasion and shooting still has a lot of unanswered questions. One of those is whether this crime was random or not.

On Wednesday, Lake City Police said the home invasion might be connected to a 2015 shooting in Lake City.

That shooting happened at a nearby park. One person was killed and three people were arrested. Strickland said the home invasion victim’s 16-year-old brother was a witness to the 2015 shooting.

“It’s a very slim connection. We don’t know if it was in retaliation from that or if it was something going on in the house or if is something brand-new. But whether it’s a small lead or big lead that we can focus on we’ll try to investigate it to the best of our ability,” Strickland said.

Ford hopes questions like that will soon be solved.

“I hope they found out who done it because he shouldn’t be running around,” Ford said.

Police say are also asking for the public’s help in solving this shooting. The shooter is described as a man wearing black clothing and a black ski mask.

If you have any information you’re asked to call police.