Witness told deputies shooting near UCF may have drug ties, report says

The drive-by shooting that left two young men hurt in a neighborhood just west of UCF’s main campus off Alafaya Trail last week was most likely drug-related, a witness told Orange County investigators.

A report recently obtained from the Sheriff ’s Office identified the wounded victims as Jonathan Fernandez, 22, and Carlos Hernandez Torres, 21, who were outside of a home on Socrates Drive when they were shot at 8 p.m. April 2.

It was the second shooting in less than a month linked to possible gang activity in the area near offcampus housing, including a row of University of Cen- tral Florida off-campus fraternity houses.

One witness, Frank Gorbea, was hanging outside in his driveway with Fernandez and Torres prior to the shooting and he told investigators that Torres might be a gang member.

The report said “Piros” gang, but officials said that is a possible misspelling of Pirus, an offshoot of the national Bloods gang.

However, according to the Sheriff’s Office, neither Fernandez or Torres are documented gang members.

At some point, Gorbea went inside the house to watch television with his family — including four toddlers.

A few seconds later, Gorbea heard about six gunshots from outside.

Fernandez and Torres came running into the house and screamed, “I got shot.”

Both men were rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

No one inside the home was hurt.

Gorbea told deputies “he is pretty sure it is a drugrelated incident,” according to the report.

Lt. Carlos Espinosa, sheriff ’s office gang-unit commander, would not confirm whether the Pirus gang is in the area.

On March19, the 59 Brim gang was referenced in the gang-related shooting near the Phi Delta Theta offcampus house on Khayyam Avenue — just around the corner from Socrates Drive.