Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken held an impromptu press conference Tuesday afternoon to discuss two recent Ocala shootings, which he called unrelated and in one case tied to a drug deal and an altercation in the other.
Balken’s remarks concerned a shooting with a fatality and two serious injuries on Sunday, afternoon, Sept. 13, 2026, in the 1100 block of Northwest 12th Avenue, and a shooting into a vehicle on Southeast 11th Avenue in the 1200 block on Monday night, Sept. 14, 2026, which left a mother and her 5-year-old child injured but reportedly in stable condition.
In the Sept. 13 shooting, OPD officers on patrol heard gunshots and responded around 2:08 p.m. to a residential area on Northwest 11th Street and Northwest 12th Avenue, Balken said…