FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS12) — The man who was shot with a rifle in St. Lucie County was pronounced dead on Tuesday.
According to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to Essex Drive around 3:30 p.m. after receiving reports of a man suffering from a gunshot wound. When they arrived, deputies learned the victim, identified as Andre Leonard Barnes, 66, was shot by another man with a rifle.
“He don’t bother nobody. he was a good man,” said George Griffin, Barnes’ neighbor. “I came around and I seen the whole block took up. I asked my neighbors what’s going on, and they said dude got shot over there.”
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Deputies provided emergency care to Barnes until crews from the St. Lucie County Fire District arrived. The victim was then taken to a local hospital for treatment where he later died.
A spokesperson with St. Lucie Public Schools (SLPS) confirmed Wednesday morning that Barnes was employed with the district as an art teacher beginning in 2017. During his tenure with the district, he served at West Gate K-8 School and most recently at Samuel S. Gaines Academy of Emerging Technologies.
SLPS’s offered this statement to CBS12 News:
We are saddened to learn of his passing and extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, students, colleagues, and all those who knew him.As this remains an active investigation being conducted by the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, we will defer any questions regarding the circumstances of his death to law enforcement. Out of respect for those affected, the district will have no further comment at this time.
Detectives say the suspect was immediately taken into custody. The sheriff’s office said the shooting appears to be an isolated incident and that there is no threat to the public.
CBS12 News is still working to figure out who the suspect is, what the relationship between the two is, and what the motive was.
Griffin says people take care of each other in this neighborhood, many knowing each other for decades. This tragedy reminds him life is fragile.
“People need to change their lives and get God in their life,” he said.
This marks the third reported shooting in Fort Pierce on or around the Fourth of July holiday. On Tuesday, the Fort Pierce Police Department announced that a man who was shot Sunday, July 5, died from his injuries. Another man who was shot on Independence Day was hospitalized.