UPDATE: 4 Injured in Shootout With Limo

Updated, 1:32 p.m.:

Detectives say the limousine passengers injured early Wednesday morning in one of a series of shooting incidents in St. Petersburg may have been targeted for a possible robbery.

"It appears that some of the limo's passengers may have been intentionally flashing large sums of cash while at the convenience store and this caught the attention of the subjects in the two suspect vehicles," St. Petersburg Police spokesperson Mike Puetz said in a media release. The limo driver returned fire with his own gun as he sped away from the area, Puetz said.

Police have arrested a 17-year-old who was later found suffering from a bullet wound inside in a black Chrysler 300 that had been reported stolen. He is in critical condition at a local hospital, officials said, and charges are pending.

Authorities said they believe there are several suspects still at large in the case.

Here's what investigators are reporting, according to a media release:

The limousine driver picked up eight passengers around 9 p.m. Tuesday and took them to the Scene Night Club in downtown St. Petersburg. Later in the morning, they drove to a convenience store at Fifth Avenue South and 34th Street. When they left, several acquaintances of the passengers followed the limo in a black Nissan Altima.

As they headed south on 28th Street South, the limo driver noticed the Chrysler 300 had pulled up on its left side and a silver Kia was coming up on its right. "It appeared the two vehicles were working in concert with each other to slow or stop the limo," Puetz said.

Someone inside the Chysler then began firing multiple rounds into the limo, wounding two passengers, 20-year-old Malik Wilson and 24-year-old Kendrick Haney. 

The limo driver, who has a concealed weapons permit, returned fire as he sped away from the area, police said.

As the limo driver was attempting to contact 911, he came across officers who
were on the scene of what is now believed to be an unrelated shooting incident
at Oueensboro Avenue South and 31st Street.

The driver informed officers of what had occurred and directed them to the two wounded passengers, who were later hospitalized in stable condition with non-life threatening wounds. The driver and seven other passengers were unhurt.

Officers went to the area of the shooting and found the black Chrysler
300, later determined to have been reported stolen from a St. Pete residence, off on the shoulder of the road in the 700 block of 28th Street South. Inside, they found Dale, who was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

A handgun was found in the car. Detectives said they believe there was at least one more person in the car at the time of the shooting who apparently fled before police arrived.

There were no signs of the silver Kia the limo driver mentioned seeing during the time of the shooting, according to authorities.

A short while later, a wounded man was dropped off at All Children's Hospital by the occupants of the black Nissan that had been following the limo. The car and its occupants left before officers arrived, but police interviewed the gunshot victim, 21-year-old Eugene Chambers, who said he was shot in the upper body as he and his fellow passengers followed behind the limo.

Chambers was in stable condition and his wound is not life threatening, police said.

Detectives said they believe the limo passengers may have been intentionally flashing large sums of cash while at the convenience store, and this caught the attention of the suspects.

Charges are pending against Dale, who has been arrested on several occasions in the past on charges including auto theft, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and robbery, Puetz said.

Officials said it appears the limo driver acted in self defense and no charges are anticipated.

As for the bullet-riddled, unoccupied white Nissan Maxima found at Queensboro Avenue South and 31st Street earlier in the morning, detectives say they have found no connection to the shooting incident involving the limo.

The car was reported stolen in the Tampa area, and crack cocaine was found inside, police said. There were no victims found in the immediate area and no blood evidence found inside the car.

Earlier:

St. Petersburg Police are investigating a series of overnight shootings that sent four people to the hospital, including two men who were shot inside a limousine.

Officials say it's not clear if the cases are related.

According to a preliminary investigation, the first incident happened around 2:17 a.m., when officers responded to a call of a hit-and-run accident at Queensboro Avenue South and 31st Street. Police found an unoccupied white Nissan Maxima that had been struck by bullets multiple times.

There were no victims found in the area and no evidence of blood or weapons inside the car, although officers did find drugs, police spokesperson Mike Puetz said in a media release.

Then, at about 3:45 a.m., officers at the scene of that shooting were flagged down by the occupants of a black stretch limousine. Two men inside were suffering from non-life threatening gunshot wounds, and the limo had bullet damage on its exterior, Puetz said. The two men were taken to Bayfront Medical Center in stable condition.

There were as many as 10 other people inside the limo, but no one else was injured, according to police. Officers said they found a handgun inside.

The limo's occupants told police someone in a black Chrysler 300 had fired into their car somewhere in the area of Seventh Avenue South and 28th Street, Puetz said. When officers went there, they found a black Chrysler 300 on the side of the road and a man inside suffering from a bullet wound to his upper body. He was taken to a local hospital with what appears to be life threatening wounds, police said.

It was not clear if there were any other occupants of the car who may have fled before officers arrived, or if the wounded man had been shot by any of the occupants of the limo, Puetz said.

Finally, at about that same time, another man arrived at All Children's Hospital suffering from a non-life threatening bullet wound to his upper body, Officials said. "Again it's not clear if this victim's wound is in anyway related to the other shooting cases," Puetz said in a release.

Police are still investigating the incidents.

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