Two FL Teachers Arrested For Shooting A Man After Entering Wrong Apartment

#FloridaMan strikes again!

Source: SolStock / Getty

WPBF 25 reports two elementary school teachers were arrested for a drunken night that ended in an accidental home invasion and a shooting in Vero Beach, Florida. Indian River County Sherriff’s Office said Darius Cohen and Akkua Hallback were out drinking at local bars on the night of Oct. 10 and then went to the apartment of a woman Hallback met earlier that evening. That’s where things took a wild turn.

According to Sheriff Eric Flowers, Cohen waited outside in his car while Hallback spent a few hours visiting a woman’s apartment. Cohen told his friend that he needed to use the bathroom, and Hallback came out to walk him back inside. The two men entered the unlocked door of an apartment, but unfortunately, it was the wrong one!

“Mr. Hallback went back to the bed to what he thought was the young lady’s bed – but was actually the couple’s bed,” Flowers said.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was asleep in his bed with his wife and baby. Their other two children were asleep in another bedroom He told WPBF, “I woke up to a man getting into the bed and when I got up I encountered another man in my apartment and we got into a scuffle and I ended up getting shot.”

He tried to keep calm to protect his family, escorting out Hallback and Cohen, who was using the bathroom in another area of the apartment. The men got into a confrontation on the way out and someone pulled out a gun. The victim was seen on camera running away before four shots were fired.

At least of the bullets hit the man in the back, but he managed to make his way to a neighbors’ door to ask for help. The two newly hired P.E. teachers drove off and were identified from a Crime Stoppers tip.

Cohen, who claimed the gun went off during a struggle, was charged with attempted felony murder and held in Indian River County Jail on $750,000 bail. Hallback was charged with possession of a controlled substance for Adderall found in his backpack. He was released Friday on $15,000 bail.

It is still unclear where the gun came from. Detectives said they are conducting a forensic investigation on two guns recovered from the house the teachers share to see if one was used in the shooting.

Before that night the two former college athletes had clean records and passed all the background checks to start their jobs at South Florida schools. “I immediately exercised my authority to terminate them last week,” Superintendent David Moore told WPBF.

Both Cohen and Hallback could still face additional charges as the investigation continues.