FORT PIERCE − Police on Thursday identified a 17-year-old fatally shot two days earlier as Kamarian Burgess, of Fort Pierce, and provided new details in the case.
Police shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday went to the 1600 block of Avenue K and encountered an unresponsive person, Fort Pierce Police Maj. Mike Santiago said.
“The preliminary investigation suggests that there was a group of people hanging out in front of this particular location, and at some point individuals came from a certain area -- we're trying to determine which area -- came in and began opening fire onto the crowd,” Santiago said.
Santiago said an officer in the area heard shots and was able to respond in 30 seconds -- before 911 was called.
“The officer observed the group of people fleeing the area,” Santiago said. “He secured the scene, and that's when he encountered this individual that was unresponsive.”
Kamarian was taken to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce where he died.
Santiago said investigators recovered four handguns left behind. He said evidence suggests multiple weapons were used in the incident, and that cartridge casings of a number of different calibers were recovered.
“Right now we're trying to determine motive, because there was a group of people, and there were shots fired by what is believed to be more than one person,” Santiago said. “We're just trying to kind of sift through that.”
He encouraged people to come forward with information.
“Some of the challenging ... things that we come across is the reluctance of the public coming forward and providing us with information to determine who the suspect is or what the motive may be,” Santiago said. “This particular case is one of those challenging circumstances.”
Jennifer Norris, 46, lives in a home just down the street from where the shooting occurred. In a Wednesday morning interview, Norris said she was in her room and heard gunfire.
“It was like pop, pop, pop, pop,” Norris said.
She said police quickly arrived.
“I've only been in this house for about seven months, and this is like the third fatality around this little neighborhood that I've heard of already,” Norris said.
A number of homes appeared to have been struck by bullets. Other residents in the area on Wednesday either did not wish to speak, didn’t see anything or didn’t answer knocks to the door.
Santiago said input from the public is key.
“We can see a higher success rate on solvability on these cases when the community is involved,” he said. “When the community is not involved, the success rate is lower.”
Santiago said since June 5 police have made about 26 violent felony arrests and seized 42 firearms.
“Some of the strategies that we have implemented are working,” he said. “We are 100 percent as a police department committed to our community.”
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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com .
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: 17-year-old fatally shot in Fort Pierce identified as Kamarian Burgess
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