POLK COUNTY, Fla. — The Polk County Sheriff's Office is searching for people responsible for shooting and injuring a woman and two children in separate incidents on the same night.
The shootings were drive-by shootings that happened in the early morning hours of Monday, Jan. 2, in Lake Wales, Sheriff Grade Judd explained at a news conference on Wednesday.
Deputies responded to a drive-by shooting that happened at around 2:52 a.m. in the Highland Park Manor Subdivision. The suspects used two different guns and shot at a home in the subdivision, the agency explains.
A total of 59 ammunition casings were found – 30 of which hit the home of a 19-year-old woman who was sleeping.
She was taken to a local hospital where she is receiving treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.
Fast forward almost 20 minutes later, deputies responded to a different residence on reports of a separate shooting that left two girls, ages 14 and 13, injured.
Detectives say they believe three people with guns drove into the neighborhood, got out of the car and shot at the home. Thirty-seven ammunition casings were found of which 27 hit the house.
Both girls were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The sheriff's office says it's possible the suspects targeted the wrong house in the subdivision.
"These thugs won't be happy until they are all in prison, and we need the public's help to accommodate these worthless, violent criminals," Judd explained in a statement. "Please, if you have any information about either of these shootings, contact Heartland Crimestoppers and you will be eligible for a cash reward of $3000."
The third case that Judd talked about involves two people who were arrested for allegedly calling 911 to get help moving things from a home they were burglarizing.
Deputies said they responded to a home Saturday after a 911 call was made but nobody spoke. At the home, they found a man and his girlfriend entering through an unlocked door, the sheriff's office said.
Deputies had been searching for the man after identifying him from security video as a burglar at a Dollar General store in Poinciana, where several items were stolen earlier in the day, the sheriff's office said in a statement.
While talking to deputies, the woman told them that she had called 911 for the purpose of having law enforcement help them move their belongings from the house they were burglarizing. They also wanted to get a ride to the airport so they could spend the weekend in New York, the sheriff's office said.
“Deputies DID help them with their belongings, and DID give them a ride, but it wasn’t to the airport … it was to the Polk Pokey," the sheriff's office said in a Facebook post. “And they are welcome to stay there all weekend long. The Polk Pokey is much better than New York anyway."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Editor's note: The age of one of the teens shot was updated to reflect the correct age as provided by the child's mother.
Watch the full news conference down below.