News and Investigations

The Polk County Sheriff’s arrested a man and a male juvenile on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, after the two drove around a park shooting at children with a pellet gun.

Jordan Hawes, 18, and Terrell Covington, 17 (both from Lakeland), were charged with three counts of Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon (F2), after they shot and struck three boys (ages 10, 12, and 13), causing welts and redness.

Deputies responded to the Highland City Ballpark (3930 Ball Park Road, Lakeland), at about 6:45 PM, in reference to the two suspects driving around the park in a white Mercedes and shooting at the children.

Both suspects were located and it was determined that Hawes was the driver of the vehicle, and he was filming the incident on his cell phone while Covington did the shooting.
Hawes’ cell phone and the pellet gun were located and taken as evidence.

“The suspects thought it would be funny to shoot at children with their pellet gun. Clearly, it wasn’t fun for the children; they could have been seriously injured by the pellets. In fact, there was a warning right on the gun that stated that it could cause serious injury.”- Grady Judd, Sheriff.

The type of pellet gun is a Splat-R-Ball Water Bead Blaster Rifle. It is designed to fire 7.5mm water beads at a rate of 8 per second at a velocity of 200-feet per second. The pellets are meant to be soaked in water to be softened.

Jordan Hawes was transported to the Polk County Jail, and Terrell Covington was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center in Bartow.