Active Shooter Reported at Everglades National Park in Florida, Shot at Park Rangers (UPDATED)

Sarah RumpfMar 28th, 2021, 8:52 pm
 
florida everglades

Florida Everglades; photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

Breaking news out of South Florida: an active shooter has been reported at Everglades National Park.

According to the park’s official Twitter account, the suspect is a 33-year-old white male who shot at park rangers “unprovoked.” Local news reports have also described him as having long hair.

The suspect is still at large and federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies are coordinating the response. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported so far.

The main road to the park has been blocked off for public safety and area residents and visitors have been instructed to shelter in place.

Miami television station WPLG-Channel 10 reported that the suspect “was stopped by law enforcement and then began shooting at park rangers unprovoked.” It is not known why they wanted to detain him.

Everglades National Park is the third-largest national park in the continental United States, after Death Valley and Yellowstone. The park covers over 1.5 million acres of wetlands that stretch across Dade, Monroe, and Collier counties, and is known for serving as a habitat for many unique species of flora and fauna, including dozens of threatened or protected species like the panthers and manatees.

UPDATE 9:30 pm: The park’s Twitter account posted an update that the suspect had been located and “is in custody.”

This is a breaking news story and has been updated.

Tags:
Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.