{"id":237154,"date":"2026-04-18T18:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T18:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/237154\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T18:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T18:36:08","slug":"murder-suspect-wanted-in-shooting-near-leesburg-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/237154\/","title":{"rendered":"Murder Suspect Wanted in Shooting Near Leesburg School"},"content":{"rendered":"

LEESBURG, Fla. \u2014 A large law enforcement presence surrounded a wooded area near Carver Middle School on Friday morning after a fatal shooting<\/a>, leading to a lockdown of the campus and nearby businesses.<\/p>\n

Investigators are currently searching for Matthew Lee Pasco, who is now wanted on a charge of premeditated first-degree murder. Last night, detectives secured an arrest warrant and are seeking the public\u2019s assistance in finding him. Authorities caution that Pasco should be regarded as armed and dangerous.<\/p>\n

Deputies and witnesses reported that the incident started as a dispute over dogs. A woman at the scene stated that the argument escalated after her dog was allegedly kicked and bit someone. She also claimed that Pasco started shooting at the dogs, killing one and trying to shoot another.<\/p>\n

Officials stated that the situation worsened when the woman\u2019s boyfriend attempted to intervene. Pasco reportedly shot the man, who was then airlifted to a hospital and subsequently died from his injuries.<\/p>\n

Deputies also confirmed that a person who was bitten during the incident was transported to a hospital for treatment. No updates on the person\u2019s condition have been provided.<\/p>\n

Authorities are urging anyone with information about Pasco\u2019s whereabouts to contact CRIMELINE at 1-800-423-TIPS or submit tips anonymously.<\/p>\n

The investigation remains active.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n

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TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LEESBURG, Fla. \u2014 A large law enforcement presence surrounded a wooded area near Carver Middle School on Friday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[147,145,28,139,141,140,144,146],"class_list":["post-237154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-central-florida","tag-channel-9","tag-florida","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-wftv","tag-wftv-channel-9"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}