PANAMA CITY — Police identified a vehicle Thursday that may have been used in the shooting death of a local teenager.
Samuel McGriff, 17, was shot in the gut June 16 at about 4:30 a.m. while standing outside a common area of the Macedonia Garden Apartments at 1722 W. 17th St. Panama City Police found McGriff in the kitchen of an apartment unit later and he was taken to a local hospital in stable condition. McGriff died the next day.
Detectives are asking for help from the public with information on a vehicle that was seen in the apartment complex at the time of the shooting. The vehicle is believed to be a 2004 to 2007 Chrysler or Dodge minivan.
According to a news release from PCPD, the van does not have a luggage or roof rack common to this model of van. It also does not have tint on the front two windows; however, all other windows are blacked out with a dark tint.
Police believe the vehicle was occupied by at least two males wearing white, tank top-style T-shirts. Immediately after the shooting, the van exited the apartment complex at a high rate of speed and was last seen heading east on 17th Street from the apartment complex.
McGriff was the fifth victim of gun violence in less than a month in Panama City. Police have made arrests on two of the five deaths. A shooting at a Millville gas station in May led to the deaths of Marqueze McGhee, 25, and Xavier M. Buckler, 23.
Another victim, 26-year-old Dalreco Franklin, was treated and released from a local hospital for a gunshot wound to the leg. Two days later, Frederic Jones, 22, of 6004 Ivy Road, Panama City, and Antonio West Jr., 24, 6313 Pridgen St., Callaway, have been arrested in connection to the shooting.
Jones was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, which police said occurred when Franklin was shot in the leg, but no one has been charged with the slayings of McGhee or Buckler.
Police are asking anyone with information about the van or its occupants to contact PCPD. Anyone with information in reference to this case is encouraged to contact Detective Jeff Rogers or Detective Richard Schubert at the Panama City Police Department, 850-872-3100, or anonymous tips can be reported to CrimeStoppers at 850-785-TIPS (8477).