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Eli Rosenberg
General appointment reporter national covering and breaking news
October 29 at 5:48 PM
A person with a gun fired at least one bullets into a Republican Party office in Florida, officials said Monday as concerns about political violence have risen in advance of the midterm elections.
The Volusia County Republican Party office in South Daytona, South Daytona Police Capt. Mark Cheatham told The Washington Post.
A volunteer arrived at the headquarters, which is located in a small strip mall, on Monday morning. Police determined that the window had been shot through after the furnace bullets inside the office, in the wall and on the floor, Cheatham said.
Police believe that the shooting occurred between 4 pm Sunday, the last time was at the office, and 9 am Monday, Cheatham said. Photographers of the office posted by reporters show that they are plastered with the Republican Party and GOP candidates.
Cheatham said the office had yet to be confirmed or identified a suspect in the shooting.
South Daytona PD Investigating someone shooting at the Volusia County Republican Headquarters. Worker arrived and noticed the damage pic.twitter.com/3egfAMzqX4
– Mike Springer WFTV (@mspringerwftv) October 29, 2018
The shooting follows high-profile events of politically motivated violence that has raised concerns about the country's bitter divide.
Last week, Cesar Sayoc, a 56-year-old Florida man, was arrested after officials said he was sent to 13 prominent Democrats, critics of President Trump and media organizations. And on Saturday, a gunman identified by officials as Robert Bowers killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue, motivated apparently by bigotry and belief in conspiracies about immigration.
[Pittsburgh synagogue shootings deepen divide in Jewish community over Trump]
Tony Ledbetter, chairman of the Volusia County Republican Party, told The Post that he blamed Democrats for shooting at the office.
"That's the only people who would do this," he said. "The sick Democrats."
Cheatham said the police would be stepping up patrols around the Republican office and the local Democratic outpost in town.
Jewel Dickson, chairwoman of the Volusia Democratic Party, told the Daytona Beach News-Journal that the shooting was "appalling."
"It's a sign of things going wrong," she said. "I would not be quick to blame for Democrat for doing that.
"An attack on one of us, is an attack on all of us, and everyone should feel safe participating in our democracy," she said in a statement.
Ledbetter said volunteers at the office conducting a vote-out-of-the-vote in the midterm elections next week were already getting back to work, though he planned to arrange for 24-hour security through the election.
"We're not going anywhere," Ledbetter said. "We're putting a piece of plywood up."
About six to eight people working at the office in shifts, he said. Ledbetter said that he believed that the shooting would have been a dangerous thing for the police.
"You'll never figure out who did this," he said. "This is a small complex; There were no cameras outside – nothing to record anything. "
He said he planned to install security cameras for future elections.
"My idea of civility is: Go vote, and if you do not win," he said.
About 55 percent of Volusia County Trump in Trump in 2016.
Democratic state Rep. Patrick Henry, who represents the area, condemned the shooting in a statement released to reporters.
"After one of the deadliest 72 hours in America, I'm angry to learn that shots were fired at a Republican Party field office in my district," he said. "Your party affiliation should never make you a target of gun violence."
Read more:
Thousands signed a letter saying Trump was not welcome in Pittsburgh. He plans to visit anyway.
Michael Moore releases footage of suspect mail-bomber Cesar Sayoc at Trump rally
Alleged synagogue gunman appears in court as rabbi pleads: 'Stop the words of hate'
White nationalist Richard Spencer accused of being abusive wife
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