LAKELAND, Fla. — A 28-year-old man is behind bars after he shot at two people inside a car early Sunday morning at a McDonald's in Lakeland, authorities say.
Calvin Sousa was charged with attempted first degree murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and improper exhibit of a firearm.
At around 2:58 a.m., officers arrived at a McDonald's located on Frontage Road after receiving a report of gunshots being fired amid two men being involved in a physical fight, the Lakeland Police Department said in a news release.
When law enforcement arrived, officers say they saw a minivan in the road in front of the restaurant. Inside the vehicle, they saw a 34-year-old man trying to provide aid to a 28-year-old woman who have been shot multiple times.
The woman was then taken to Lakeland Regional Health in stable condition but with serious injuries, while the 34-year-old man refused medical treatment at the scene for a minor injury, police say. Sousa had already reportedly left the location in his car.
After talking to witnesses, the police department says that the man and woman were in the drive-thru line of the restaurant and waiting for their order, which was taking extra time because of an error. Sousa, who was in the car behind the two people, became upset about waiting in line and started to honk and yell at the man and woman, police say.
That's when the 34-year-old man and Sousa got out of their vehicles and briefly began to fight, law enforcement says. When both men returned to their vehicles and began to leave the parking lot, Sousa pulled up to the passenger's side of the minivan and fired multiple shots into it, striking the woman several times, police say.
Once officers gathered more information, they identified the person in the car who shot at the minivan as Sousa and tracked his car to a home in Highland City, the police department says.
The Lakeland police, alongside the Polk County Sheriff's Office, reportedly tried to make contact with Sousa at his home, but the 28-year-old initially refused to leave the home and barricaded himself inside. Eventually, Sousa came outside of the home and was taken into custody, police say.