Argument leads to gunfire, arrest: Crestview Police Department

CRESTVIEW, Fla. — A Crestview man has been arrested after officers with the Crestview Police Department responded to multiple calls of shots being fired in the city, the agency has announced.

According to the Crestview Police Department (CPD), Horace James Durden, 30, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, firing a weapon in public or residential property, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and cruelty to a child without great bodily harm.

The CPD reports that at about 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, its officers responded to multiple calls of shots being fired at the pool area of the Redstone Commons off East Redstone Avenue.

Officers said they determined that a verbal altercation that occurred in the parking area of the pool facility escalated into one of the participants firing a pistol in the direction of a vehicle occupied by others participating in the argument, the CPD said.

The occupants of the vehicle reportedly included an adult and a teenage child. After allegedly firing the pistol, the shooter reportedly fled on foot into the nearby neighborhood. There were no reported injuries from the incident.

The CPD said it then received calls from residents who said they observed a man running with a pistol in their neighborhood. Responding officers utilized K-9 Tyson in the search and said they were able to track the subject to a residence in the nearby subdivision.

The CPD said K-9 Tyson led officers directly to a residence where Durden was reportedly hiding from officers. He was quickly detained by officers, and the firearm was recovered, the CPD said.

Durden was transported and released into the custody of the Okaloosa County Jail without incident, according to the report.