Ongoing dispute ends when business partners fatally shoot each other on US 92 in Lakeland

Two business partners fatally shot each other during an altercation at a their business on U.S. 92 East in Lakeland Thursday afternoon, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

The shooting took place shortly after 3 p.m. at 3135 U.S. 92 E., across the highway from Santa Fe Catholic High School. The Sheriff's Office said business partners Akeido Bennett, 31, and Xavier Figueroa, 39, both of Kissimmee, shot each other as a result of an ongoing dispute. Bennett died at the scene. Figueroa attempted to flee in his truck but died from his wounds shortly after.

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The Sheriff's Office did not release the name of the business, but a Google search shows what appears to be an auto service business by the name of Service On Site of Central Florida Inc. at that address.

"This was an avoidable tragedy stemming from a disagreement between business partners," Sheriff Grady Judd said in a prepared statement. "We all have an obligation to our friends, our families, and society at large to talk things out instead of turning to violence. These men would still be alive today, and their families would not be grieving, had they been able to work out their differences civilly."

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Business partners shoot, kill each other on US 92 in Lakeland, Florida