After Shooting Lakeland Man Barricades Himself In Apartment: Police

LAKELAND, FL — A 33-year-old Lakeland Man is facing multiple charges following a shooting Friday during which he fled the scene, breaking into the apartment of a woman and her 3-year-old child, authorities said.

According to Lakeland police, around 11 a.m. officers responded to reports of a shooting in the 2400 block of Chestnut Woods Drive in Lakeland. Once on the scene, officers found a 35-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Lakeland police, Polk County Fire Rescue and the Lakeland Fire Department began life-saving measures and then took the man to Lakeland Regional Health as a trauma alert. He is in stable condition and is expected to recover, police said.

Investigators learned the victim and a woman drove to Chestnut Woods Drive to visit a relative. The woman stayed in the vehicle while the victim joined his relative outside the apartment and spoke with Miguel Angel Ruiz Borges.

At some point, the men argued and the fight escalated, with Borges shooting the victim, police said. Despite being shot, the victim was able to overpower Borges and take the gun from him.

Police said Borges then fled on foot and broke into a nearby apartment. The woman who lived in the apartment grabbed her 3-year-old child and retreated to a bedroom, where she barricaded herself and the child inside.

When officers were alerted to the woman's predicament, they helped her and the child climb safely out of the bedroom window.

Once the mother and child were safe, officers with the Lakeland Police Department Crisis Negotiation Team attempted to contact the Borges, who remained barricaded in the apartment.

The Lakeland police SWAT team also responded to assist.

After more than two hours of talking with Borges, he surrendered and was taken into custody.

Borges was taken to the Polk County Jail, where he was charged with aggravated battery of a person with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a delinquent and unarmed burglary of an occupied dwelling.