Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers has a news conference regarding a shooting that happened Friday night at Garcia’s Boat Ramp involving a 17-year-old boy. The teen was taken to Sebastian River Medical Center and later flown to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, where he died, the Sheriff’s Office said.
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A 17-year-old Sebastian River High School student died after he was shot near Garcia’s Boat Ramp while a group of about 100 teens were filming fights for social media “likes,” said Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers.
The boy died after what Flowers described as an Oct. 2 “meetup – like the old grove parties,” but now with guns and social media, he said at an Oct. 5 news conference at the Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s not the bonfires of the old days,” Flowers said. “These kids are shooting out there.”
Flowers said he’s not releasing the names of anyone involved, including the 17-year-old, while the case remained under investigation.
No arrests had been made as of Oct. 5. Sheriff’s officials planned to issue a warrant, but it would be up to the State Attorney’s Office to file charges in what looks like a self-defense case, he said.
A group of about 100 teens between ages 14 and 19 were at the boat ramp drinking and fighting when the shooting occurred, Flowers said. The teens would record videos of the fighting for likes and shares on social media.
He said sheriff’s deputies had broken up fights at the boat ramp earlier in the evening before they responded just before 11:30 p.m. to a report that a juvenile had been shot in the 3700 block of County Road 512.
The group of teens, which had been involved in previous fights, surrounded a pickup truck at the boat ramp, Flowers said. Two people, both 18, were inside the truck.
The 17-year-old boy opened the truck door and started to punch the two people inside, Flowers said. The passenger fired one shot, which hit the 17-year-old, he said.
Deputies found the 17-year-old boy and began lifesaving measures until Indian River County Fire Rescue crews arrived, according to officials. He was taken to Sebastian River Medical Center and later flown to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, where he died.
Flowers showed two brief videos with different angles of the shooting and asked for witnesses to come forward and share more video with sheriff’s officials.
No one was arrested because the 17-year-old opened the truck door in an attempt to fight, Flowers said. They all had a history of fighting, and it was an ongoing thing, he said.
Both people who were inside the truck have been cooperative, Flowers said. One of them attends Vero Beach High School, and there would be extra deputies at its homecoming game on Oct. 9, he said.
The locations of meetups are being shared on Snapchat, Flowers said, so it’s difficult to predict because Snapchat has private conversations as opposed to other social media.
Sheriff’s officials have gone to areas with frequent meetups, he said, but the teens move locations elsewhere, including to parking lots and retention ponds.
Meetups are different than takeovers because meetups are remote and more rural than takeovers, Flowers said. He advised parents to have their children’s locations.
The boat ramp where the shooting occurred is south of Fellsmere, west of Interstate 95, in the Blue Cypress Conservation Area near Lake Garcia.
Anyone with information should call the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office at 772-569-6700 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 800-273-TIPS.
(This story was updated with videos.)
Laurie K. Blandford is a breaking news reporter with TCPalm. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: 17-year-old dies after meetup of 100 teens at Florida boat ramp fight
Reporting by Laurie K. Blandford, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect
This story was originally published October 5, 2026 at 5:24 PM.
