Shooting Leads To Boynton Beach Police Chase
BOYNTON BEACH (CBSMiami) – One man is dead, another hospitalized after a shooting outside a Home Depot in Boynton Beach.
According to Boynton Beach police spokesperson Stephanie Slater, just before 10 a.m., 41-year-old William Modena Jr. of Deerfield Beach was sitting in a Lexus in the parking lot located in 1500 block of SW 8th Street when an armed man shot him.
Slater said Modena was shot in the side of the head and multiple times in the upper body at near point blank range. Witness Michael Vesic said he was unloading carpet outside the Home Dept when he noticed the incident.
"I knew it was a gun and I see the guy jumping in the van and taking off," he said. "It was scary at first, and I just figured...do the right thing."
Vesic said the gunman drive off in a white Chevy van.That's when he called 911 and went to help the victim.
"Blood was coming out of his head," he said. "He was shot on his chest, stomach and everything else."
Modena was rushed to Delray Medical Center where he died.
Racing at speeds at more than 100 mph, police chased the van on I-95. After striking two cars on I-95, the van's driver, later identified as 54-year-old William Dabbs, exited at Lantana Road and headed east.
The chase came to an end at Federal Highway and Hypoluxo Read when the van crashed into a least one vehicle and shredded a front tire. As police approached the van, shots were fired.
Skater said when officers were finally able to take Dabbs into custody he had a number of gunshot wounds on his upper body. She said they were still trying to determine if the wounds came from police or was self inflicted.
Dabbs was taken to the Delray Medical Center where he's listed as stable. He faces numerous felony charges, including homicide, felony fleeing and eluding and aggravated assault on a police officer.
