BARTOW, Fla. — The Polk County Sheriff's Office have arrested two 16-year-olds in connection with a deadly "ambush" that left one teen dead Monday night at a Bartow park.
Sheriff Grady Judd said a 17-year-old boy pulled up to Gordon Heights Park in a 2017 maroon Silverado pickup truck to sell marijuana around 9:40 p.m. He was joined by a 19-year-old female passenger, Judd added.
Then, the sheriff said, several males who were sitting on a picnic bench approached the teen's car, opened the doors, and started shooting.
The teen tried to drive away but crashed into a fence and later died, according to the sheriff.
"This was an ambush, an absolute ambush," Judd said. "They ambushed and murdered this young man."
The sheriff's office says the female passenger was "miraculously, was not hit by any bullets."
Polk County deputies said Wednesday morning that two 16-year-olds have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in this case. Both were found at a home on Gause Street in Bartow near the park where the incident occurred, according to the sheriff's office.
Deputies added that one of the boy's father was also arrested on drug charges.
The sheriff's office is expected to give more information about the arrests at 12:30 p.m Wednesday.
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