SARASOTA, Fla. — An innocent family was caught in the middle of a gunfight in Sarasota.
On Thursday, two shootings took place in Sarasota about two miles from each other, happening about an hour and a half apart. Despite the proximity in time and location, police have yet to determine whether they are connected.
That's little comfort to Leesa Merritt, who was driving home with her daughters in the car on Thursday when bullets and glass flew threw her car.
"We heard gunshots and the kids tell me, ‘Mommy, we hear gunshots, we hear gunshots!’ and the next thing I know, I see two cars zoom up behind me," said Merritt.
She was passing through the busy intersection of University Parkway and North Tamiami Trail when the shooting began. It was around 6:30 p.m. during the busy afternoon rush.
"At first, I thought it was a car backfiring, then I realized it was gunshots," said Merritt.
Some of those bullets pierced the back of her car, shattering her windshield and coming inches from her 7-year-old daughter Dottie.
"One of them bounced right here," Dottie said, pointing to a dent in the back of the driver's seat. "Then, it fell next to me onto my seat."
Leesa Merritt has had not only her windshield shattered, but also her sense of security. "It’s terrifying," said Merritt. "It’s terrifying to know people don’t care about other people and just drive around shooting."
The first shooting happened approximately an hour and a half before the one in which the Merritt family was caught in the cross fire.
Police said that first shooting happened just after 5 p.m. in the 1800 block of 23rd Street, Sarasota. 24-year-old Ladelvin Grimsley, a Sarasota local, was arrested in connection to that shooting.
Witnesses said an 18-year-old man got into an argument with people in a nearby car. Then police say Grimsley shot the 18-year-old. Witnesses told police that another person got out of the car with a gun and began firing. Grimsley was also shot, but it's unknown by whom.
He and the 18-year-old are recovering from their gunshot wounds at the hospital. There were no reported injuries in connection to the second shooting.
Sarasota Police Public Information Officer Genevieve Judge said gun violence is a relatively frequent problem in that neighborhood.
"We have responded to multiple calls in that area in months past and over the course of many years for gun violence," said Judge.
Sarasota Police said both of these investigations remain active and ongoing.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6070 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by calling 941-366-TIPS or online at www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com