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Highlands Today

Authorities say man opened fire at party

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By BRAD DICKERSON

Highlands Today

Published: November 17, 2009

SEBRING - Guests at a late-night house party got more than they bargained for when a van drove by and a man reportedly opened fire.

Eric Michael Watt, 21, of 2942 Lake Josephine Drive, Sebring, was arrested and charged with five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill. He remained in the Highlands County Jail Monday under a $50,000 bond.

Calls came in around 3:20 a.m. Sunday of gunshots being heard in the area of Lakeview and Golfview roads. Investigators saw a group of people in the front yard of a known "party house" on Lambeau Avenue and stopped to speak with them, according to the arrest report.

Accounts from five of the partygoers matched in that they said a minivan with several people inside was seen circling the block several times.

"As they passed the party, they shouted obscenities at the crowd and said, 'We've got something for ya'll," Highlands County Sheriff's Deputy Ryan McLean wrote in the arrest report.

The van came around for another pass, but this time the headlights were switched off. It stopped on Lakewood Road just west of the house and the driver pointed a long rifle out of the window, the report stated.

One or two shots were fired in the air and toward the crowd. Several took cover behind nearby vehicles or laid on the ground.

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