A 24-year-old Winter Haven man is facing six counts of attempted first-degree murder after Lakeland police say he opened fire into a home occupied by six people, including three young children, following a string of recent threats. Treveon Raggs was arrested Monday, ten days after the shooting, and booked into the Polk County Jail on no bond.
According to the Tampa Bay 28 report on the case, the Lakeland Police Department responded to a shooting at a Westgate-area home shortly after 11 p.m. on August 14. Investigators say the shooter fired into a side bedroom window of the residence, striking two people inside. Both adult victims were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, while the three children in the home were not hurt, per the same report.
One of the victims told investigators they believed Raggs was the shooter, and police say he had recently made threats before the gunfire erupted. The station's report notes that surveillance video captured a suspect arriving at and leaving the scene in a vehicle, and that electronic evidence combined with that footage gave detectives enough to secure an arrest warrant.
Ten-Day Manhunt Ends in Winter Haven
Lakeland police announced the arrest on LakelandPD's Facebook page, saying detectives tracked Raggs to a home in Winter Haven and took him into custody there on August 24. The department credited the ten-day investigation to a combined effort by uniform patrol officers, forensic services specialists, and criminal investigations detectives, who worked to trace the suspect vehicle seen in scene footage. Winter Haven sits roughly 15 miles east of Lakeland along the U.S. 92 corridor in central Polk County, according to Hoodline's earlier reporting.
Beyond the six attempted murder counts, Raggs was also charged with shooting into an occupied building, discharge of a firearm in a residential area, aggravated stalking after a court-imposed order, written threats to kill or injure, child abuse without great bodily harm, armed trespass, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, and violation of pretrial release conditions. Public arrest record archives cited by Florida Arrests indicate Raggs had a prior recorded arrest in Polk County in February 2023.
What the Charges Could Mean in Court
The attempted murder charges carry the heaviest potential exposure. Under Florida Statutes covering premeditated murder and attempt, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Raggs acted with a deliberate, fully formed intent to kill along with an overt act beyond mere preparation, according to legal guidance published by The Defense Group. Attempted first-degree murder is a first-degree felony in Florida punishable by up to life in prison.
The shooting-into-an-occupied-building charge is a separate second-degree felony under Florida law, carrying up to 15 years in state prison, 15 years of probation, and a $10,000 fine, as outlined by Brett Metcalf Criminal Defense Attorneys. That statute applies to wanton or malicious gunfire into a structure regardless of whether a specific occupant was the intended target.
The aggravated stalking charge points to an existing court order that predates the shooting. Under Florida law, aggravated stalking that violates a court-imposed injunction is a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine per count, according to the Sammis Law Firm, which notes prosecutors must establish a willful pattern of harassment carried out in defiance of that order.
Why Raggs Is Being Held Without Bond
The violation-of-pretrial-release charge suggests Raggs was already facing prior charges and out on bond at the time of the shooting, though the dossier does not specify what those underlying charges were. Florida law gives courts the authority to revoke pretrial release and order no-bond detention on their own motion if probable cause exists that a defendant committed a new crime or materially violated release conditions, per statute cited by the Florida Senate. Defendants accused of new violent felonies while allegedly violating pretrial release tied to prior domestic or stalking cases are held without bond until a formal detention review before a judge, the Sammis Law Firm separately notes.
The medical condition of the two adult victims beyond their initial life-threatening injuries has not been publicly updated, and it remains unclear whether the firearm used in the shooting was recovered when Raggs was arrested in Winter Haven. The case adds to a run of severe firearm and domestic violence incidents across Polk County this month, including an Auburndale shooting involving a girlfriend and child and a fatal Kathleen warrant stop that also unfolded in early August.
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