Man accused of 'Romeo and Juliet' dispute shootings

A man was accused of wounding six members of a neighbouring family after a long-running feud that victims said peaked when his daughter began dating a boy from their family.

Six people ages 14 to 22 were admitted to hospital yesterday with gunshot wounds. The youngest was critically injured.

Baldemar Riojas, 46, was accused of aggravated battery with a firearm in Crescent City, Florida.

Members of the Soliz and Ortiz family say their feud with the neighbouring Riojas family has simmered for more than a year. The dispute became more heated when Riojas’ teenage daughter started dating Miguel Soliz, 15, who was among the wounded.

“All this started because they were dating,” said Melva Ortiz, Miguel’s mother. “I tried to tell him to leave the girl, but you know how kids are.”

Angelica Soliz, a cousin of the victims, said she hid under a bed as people fired guns from the road.

“They were just shooting at us,” said another family member, Maria Ortiz, 22. “We just threw ourselves to the floor, and the people who got shot, they didn’t have a chance.”