5 shootings in 4 days: Escambia sheriff said shootings left 2 dead, several injured

Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons held a press conference Wednesday morning to discuss five different shootings that occurred since Sunday.

Simmons asked the community to stay vigilant for suspicious people and activity.

"Let me give you this piece of of advice: If your friend, relative or neighbor are driving around in stolen cars ... carrying guns everywhere they go ... (or) have drugs on them or if they have people coming into your house with drugs on them then they're a suspect in something," Simmons said during the press conference. "If (someone you know) goes to a house party and part of the uniform is to wear guns, prop guns underneath your arms or in your pants, they're a suspect in something and perhaps you should evaluate conversations with those people."

Since Sunday, Simmons said their department has been busy and conducted "pretty dang good police work," after multiples shots fired calls throughout Escambia County.

House party turns deadly:ECSO investigating after fatal shooting during Bellview house party

Blue Angel fatal shooting:ECSO: Deputies investigating Blue Angel Parkway body found with gunshot wound as homicide

What were the shooting incidents?

The week's first fatal shooting occurred on Pin High Drive Sunday at approximately 1 a.m. when one man was injured and another died during a 100-person house party.

Simmons said during the press conference there were shots fired in the front yard of the home and at least one shot fire on the back porch.

"At this point what we know is we have at least four Black males showed up all in black and they are the ones that fired the shots," he said. "In looking at some of the footage, there were people that were coming and going, not the ones that ended up shooting, but a lot of people had guns."

The second investigation stems from the ECSO responding to a report someone had a fatal gunshot wound on Blue Angel Parkway. When deputies arrived to the area there was one deceased male with a gunshot wound.

The man deputies found was driving a stolen vehicle, according to Simmons, which was burned out. The ECSO believes he is from Alabama and are working with that state's authorities to determine the cause of the incident.

Tuesday night the ECSO received a shots fired call from the Peachtree Commons apartments, but upon arrival they only found shell casings and blood. While on scene they received a report of two individuals who checked into Perdido ER with gunshot wounds that were not life threatening.

Simmons plan:Escambia sheriff has a plan to reduce gun violence. Here's what's in store:

"How this gets interesting is one of the victim's sisters ... she starts heading to the hospital where her brother is," Simmons said. "While en route, she gets attacked by a dark blue vehicle, and her vehicle is shot at."

After the woman gave deputies the description of the vehicle, an ECSO deputy saw a vehicle that fitting the woman's description near Fairfield Drive and began chasing the person.

"As Deputy Glass gets out, the suspect gets out of the dark blue vehicle that had been disabled and starts to run with a rifle in his hand," Simmons said. "He discards that rifle and then runs into the Mayfair area."

Simmons said "we didn't give up" as many units and K-9s were working the scene and looking for the suspect. Authorities then located the suspect around 8 a.m. Thursday morning.

The suspect, 19-year-old Tracy Lamar Posey, is currently awaiting charges, according to Simmons.

The final shooting happened Thursday morning on Dogwood Drive when a 14-year-old and 17-year-old sustained gunshot wounds but were not seriously wounded. Simmons says they currently have no information that indicates who fired the shots.

"We are looking for anyone that has information on who the suspects might be," Simmons said. "We do have one in custody, but we do think there are others."

Anyone with information regarding any of the cases is asked to call the ECSO 850-436-9620.

Even before the recent spate of gun violence, Simmons has been actively calling upon community members and leaders to start implementing solutions to gun violence. Following a pair of ECSO-hosted crime reduction roundtables, a dozen local and state officials have pledged to bring their resources to bear to reduce violent crime, starting with a focus in the Brownsville neighborhood.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia deputies responded to 5 Pensacola-area shootings over 4 days