PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WDNews) – Two people have been arrested after a 7-year-old child was shot during an incident in Bay County last week.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to reports of gunfire along 15th Street in Panama City on August 9. Shortly afterward, officials learned a 7-year-old had arrived at a nearby hospital with a gunshot wound. Investigators determined the shooting began when 39-year-old Sammie Lee Underwood III confronted his ex-girlfriend inside a public establishment. She left with her children, but deputies say Underwood followed in his vehicle, attempted to run them off the road, and then opened fire, striking the child in the back seat. The woman drove to the hospital for emergency care, and the child is now recovering.
Underwood fled the scene and abandoned his vehicle in Callaway. Authorities obtained warrants and, the next day, members of the sheriff’s office Criminal Investigations Division, SWAT team, and the U.S. Marshals Service located him during a vehicle takedown. Deputies say he was in possession of narcotics, including hydrocodone, OxyContin, methamphetamine, and marijuana, and he now faces multiple charges including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm from a vehicle into an occupied vehicle, tampering with evidence, grand theft of a firearm, hit-and-run, and drug possession.
Deputies also arrested 31-year-old Ricki Brown of Panama City, who is accused of helping Underwood avoid capture by driving him from the area, allowing him to stay at her residence, and helping dispose of the firearm used in the shooting. Brown is charged with accessory after the fact to a second-degree felony, violation of probation, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of fentanyl and marijuana less than 20 grams.
The case remains under investigation.
