OKEECHOBEE — Three people were taken to Raulerson Hospital for treatment of injuries in a bar fight and shooting at Good Spirits Lounge late Saturday night, according to the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) report. The fight is rumored to have involved a group of “skin heads.”
Just after midnight March 18, OCSO Cpl. Kristen Gray responded to a report of a fight in progress at the bar. While Cpl. Gray was enroute to the location, OCSO dispatch reported that shots had been fired outside the bar and people had locked themselves inside the building. Cpl. Gray requested all available units to respond, and nine officers from OCSO and Okeechobee City Police Department also responded.
Cpl. Gray, OSCO Deputy B. Vuleta and OCSO Deputy T. Miller were first on the scene.
“There were numerous subjects standing next to the entrance/exit door of the bar pointing south,” Cpl. Gray reported. “All subjects reported a black Chevrolet extended cab truck had the suspected shooter inside and it had left going south. I relayed the information to other units en route to the area.”
Inside the bar, Cpl. Gray made contact with a female victim who was on the floor with a towel held to her head. She was bleeding from a laceration to the head. The victim also had a large contusion on her left forearm. Cpl. Gray called for Fire/Rescue to assist the injured woman.
Other witnesses told the deputies that another victim had been hit over the head with a pool cue and was bleeding from the head. They reported that a third victim had been shot, and had been transported by private vehicle to the hospital.
While waiting for the ambulance, the first victim told Cpl. Gray that she and her friend were being harassed by a man inside the bar. She described him as a white male with tattoos. She said he bumped into her friend and then used a racial slur. She told deputies that she stood up for her friend, and a verbal argument ensued.
The woman was hit in the head, and she retaliated and knocked the man off his bar stool.
She was then struck over the head with a beer bottle. Another white man with tattoos grabbed a pool stick and struck her on the forearm, the report continues.
“At this time, numerous subjects were involved in the bar brawl and this was when the second victim was struck in the head by an unknown white male,” the report continues.
The victim reported that she heard gun shots outside and ran to the kitchen to hide until help could arrive.
She reported “there were approximately 10 white males with bald heads and tattoos in this group.”
The law enforcement officers locked down the scene and took statements from all of the witnesses.
Deputies found four spent rounds and one live round of ammunition on the scene. The also found a broken pool cue.
The case is under investigation.