Deputies ID person of interest in Florida IHOP restaurant shooting

Deputies investigating shooting at Florida IHOP restaurant

Deputies with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office are investigating following a shooting at an IHOP restaurant in DeBary.

LAKE MARY, Fla. - Deputies with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office have identified a person of interest following a deadly shooting outside an IHOP restaurant Friday evening in DeBary.

The sheriff's office is looking for Sammy McKnight Jr., 31. On Saturday, deputies released photos of McKnight and the car he may be driving. They believe he could be in the Daytona Beach area.

"If you see him or know his whereabouts, please call 911 and do not approach," the sheriff's office tweeted.

Investigators arrived at the restaurant, located at 320 Dirksen Drive, in response to a call of a shooting that happened just before 6:30 p.m. Friday.

A FOX 35 News crew saw several law enforcement officers on the scene and a large perimeter around the restaurant had been marked with crime scene tape. Additionally, the sheriff's office helicopter was overhead, searching the nearby vicinity just before 7 p.m.

Witnesses told deputies that two men were fighting outside the restaurant when one shot the other and then left the scene. The sheriff's office later identified the man killed in the shooting as James Shirley, 36, of DeBary.

Detectives said McKnight may be traveling in a light blue/gray 2007 Cadillac CTS with Florida license plate LNI-T47.