MOUNT DORA, Fla. — An 18-year-old involved in a multicounty chase is believed to have killed his father before opening fire on deputies and crashing into a Mount Dora synagogue.
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On Tuesday afternoon, the sheriff said the teenage son and his dad were heard arguing on the phone before a shot went off and the line went dead.
The suspect was identified as 18-year-old Jonny Santiago. Deputies said he was spotted in three different counties before running from law enforcement before he ended up in a shootout with officers in Lake County.
The investigation began in Deltona Sunday night at a home at East Lehigh Drive and Normandy Boulevard.
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Deputies said around 5 p.m. Monday, the suspect was spotted in Mount Dora and chased before he drove a Ford F-150 truck into a synagogue while firing at law enforcement.
Santiago was shot seven times in that shootout. Sheriff Mike Chitwood said Santiago is not saying anything to them about what happened or where his father might be.
Deputies said the teen’s father, Juan Santiago, flew down from New York to the family’s Deltona home Sunday night because the family was concerned about the son acting strange, running from police and crashing a car.
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At the home, investigators said the dad was on the phone with his wife while arguing with the son to turn over the keys to his dad’s white pickup. There’s then a shot heard and the line goes dead.
The mother called police in New York and they called the sheriff’s office, who went to the home.
However, Chitwood said there is roughly a 15-minute window to piece did and where the father went.
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Because of that short window, deputies are really concentrating their search in a small area around the home, where they believe the dad to be.
Investigators are using different pieces of technology to try to track him, but the sheriff said neither the teen or his mom are working with them to help find the dad.
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