Statement From Auburndale Deputy Chief K. Andy Ray
Officers of the Auburndale Police Department were initially dispatched to a report of shots being fired in the area of Bennett Street and Robinson Street in an area of East Auburndale. Officers arrived at 104 Robinson Street to find a teenage
black male suffering from several gunshot wounds to his body and lying in the front yard of the home. He was treated by medics from the Auburndale Fire Department and Polk County Fire Rescue, then transported to Lakeland Regional Medical Center for further treatment. The crime scene was processed by members of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigations Section.
As the investigation progressed, officers followed up on leads that included a description of the suspect vehicle and, eventually, the names of those individuals in the car from which shots were fired. As suspect information was developed,
members of the Auburndale Police Department and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office worked together to try to locate the described vehicle and the three occupants. Their efforts resulted in positive identification of the three occupants of the vehicle as well as investigative interviews with each of them being conducted by APD detectives. As well, multiple witnesses and others at the scene of the shooting were interviewed.
The individual who was shot during this incident is identified as Lajordon Smith, 16-years-old, of Auburndale, Florida. The individual who shot Smith is identified as Christopher Douglas Hines, 26-years-old, of Lakeland, Florida.
Following the initial investigation, which included interviews with a number of witnesses and the parties involved in the disturbance at 104 Robinson Street, as well as an in-depth crime scene investigation, detectives conferred with an assistant state attorney in the 10th Circuit State Attorney’s Office. At this stage of the investigation, it appears that Hines reacted to Smith brandishing a firearm and pointing it at him at close range. Hines then pointed a .40 caliber pistol at Smith and fired several shots at him in self-defense. After detaining Hines following the shooting, recovering evidence, and conducting an interview with him, he was released pending further investigation.