A 22-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder after seven people, including several college students visiting for spring break, were shot early Saturday in Panama City Beach, Florida, according to Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen.
Deputies from the Sheriff’s Office responded to multiple reports of a shooting just before 1 a.m. in the 5300 block of Thomas Drive, a post on McKeithen’s Facebook page stated.
Investigators arrived at the “chaotic scene” to find seven shooting victims in four different locations, McKeithen said.
The seven victims, whose ages ranged between 20 and 22 years old, were all hospitalized, with some sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.
One of the victims was last reported to be in surgery, three were in critical condition and the remaining three were in stable condition, according to the sheriff.
Several were students at Alabama A&M University who were in the area for spring break, he added.
According to CNN, Panama City Beach — which has been dubbed “the Spring Break Capital of the World” — is visited by some 6 million young people during February and March. The town’s resident population is about 12,000.
A short time following the shooting, a man matching the description of the shooter was apprehended and detained at Beach Drive and Hurt Street. Witnesses then positively identified him as the gunman, according to McKeithen.
David Jamichael Daniels, a 22-year-old from Mobile, Alabama, has been charged with seven counts of attempted murder, the sheriff said on Facebook. Daniels was being held in Bay County Jail.
Authorities have also recovered the handgun believed to have been used in the shooting at a home on Beach Drive.
A motive for the shooting was not known.
