Shooting suspect barricades inside Lakeland apartment for more than 2 hours, Lakeland officers say
Booking photo for Miguel Angel Ruiz Borges. Courtesy: Lakeland Police Department.
LAKELAND, Fla. - A shooting suspect was arrested in Lakeland after barricading himself inside an apartment for more than two hours, according to officers.
The Lakeland Police Department said they arrested Miguel Angel Ruiz Borges on multiple charges after surrendering to officers.
Police said they responded to a reported shooting at around 11 a.m. on Friday in the 2400 block of Chesnut Woods Drive in Lakeland. When they arrived at the scene, officers said they found a 35-year-old man with a gunshot wound in his abdomen.
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Investigators said the victim and a woman drove to an apartment to visit a relative, and the woman stayed in the car while the 35-year-old man joined his relative outside. The victim then began speaking with Ruiz Borges in the apartment's driveway, according to LPD officials.
Both men eventually started arguing, which is when Ruiz Borges shot the victim, according to police. The victim was still able to overpower the suspect and take the gun from him, officers said.
Ruiz Borges then fled the scene and went inside a nearby apartment, where a woman lived with her three-year-old child, investigators said. The woman was able to grab her child and barricaded them inside a bedroom.
Officers who responded to the scene said they were able to help the woman and her child climb through the bedroom window and get them to safety.
After they were out of the apartment, the police department's Crisis Negotiation Team began trying to get in contact with Ruiz Borges where he barricaded himself inside the apartment. LPD said their SWAT team also responded to assist.
After more than two hours of communicating with Borges, he surrendered and was taken into custody. Authorities said their investigation into the incident remains open and active.
Lakeland police said the man who was shot in the abdomen is stable and expected to recover.