A drive-by shooting in West Lakeland on Monday killed Jake Castillo, 17, who was already paralyzed from a previous drive-by shooting back in 2011.

Incident occurred around 7:45 p.m.

All three suspects in custody, IDs not revealed yet

Polk deputies: Incident appears to be gang-related

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“I need justice because this is the second time,” said Castillo’s aunt, Hortencia Ortega. “That’s why he was in a wheelchair, from the same thing, a shootout.”



Three men in an SUV targeted the home at 2602 Tennessee Road and one opened fire as Ortega’s 13-year-old son was wheeling Castillo into the home. Polk County Sheriff’s deputies said someone inside the home returned fire with a shotgun, and then fled.



“I was asleep and I thought there were fireworks popping outside,” Ortega said. “I never thought it was this right here.”



A neighbor who lives across the street said she heard about ten rounds pop off around 7:45 p.m. and some of those shotgun pellets hit her home.



“We heard the gunshots, two different kinds of gunshots,” said Jena Moran. “It was very scary. I was feeding my baby right there on the couch. Just a wall away we have bullets in our house. Thank God none went through.”



Deputies said the driver and front passenger were hit and the SUV crashed into a ditch a short time later. All three suspects are in custody, but their identities and charges have not yet been released.

Castillo's home, where the July 3 shooting occurred. (Josh Rojas, staff)



The incident appears to be gang related, according to the Polk Sheriff’s Office.



“I don’t understand why because [Castillo] wasn’t a trouble maker in the street,” said Ortega. “He was not. He couldn’t defend himself.”



Moran said Castillo was a friendly and helpful neighbor.



“He would be in his wheelchair raking up leaves with us, pulling out weeds out the yard, just little things like that just to make a little extra cash,” she said. “When they pronounced him deceased our hearts dropped to the floor. It was sad.”