Man shoots former co-worker after being fired from Pembroke Pines barbershop, police say

Victim has life-threatening injuries

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A victim was found with a gunshot wound outside of a Publix in Pembroke Pines Friday afternoon shortly after police say a shooting was reported at a barbershop in the area.

The shooting occurred at Halftime Barber, located at 15677 Pines Blvd., according to the Pembroke Pines Police Department.

Authorities said the victim was transported by Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue to a nearby hospital after sustaining a single gunshot wound to the back.

“The incident is isolated between two known parties who were previously employed together,” Pembroke Pines police confirmed to Local 10 News.

Authorities identified the suspect as Jesus L. Santiago-Zabala.

Police said Santiago-Zabala, 29, was fired from the barbershop on Thursday and came back Friday, confronting his former co-worker, shooting the victim once.

Local 10 News was at the scene when first responders placed the shooting victim inside an ambulance and transported him to the hospital.

Police said the victim suffered life-threatening injuries.

“I got out of my car at one o’clock. I was going to go into Publix when I heard what I thought was an exhaust pipe going off,” said Broward resident Sally Lewis. “Then I saw people running to Five Guys, and a lady hiding behind a car. I thought, ‘Oh my goodness... It’s a shooting!’”

“We heard a gunshot when we were serving and saw the police with a gun walk into the barbershop,” said Andrea Paz, who works nearby.

Police said they arrested Santiago-Zabala on a charge of attempted murder.

His booking photo was not yet available in Broward jail records as of Friday evening.


About the Authors

Ryan Mackey is a Digital Journalist at WPLG. He was born in Long Island, New York, and has lived in Sunrise, Florida since 1994.

Cody Weddle joined Local 10 News as a full-time reporter in South Florida in August of 2022. Before that, Cody worked regularly with Local 10 since January of 2017 as a foreign correspondent in Venezuela and Colombia.

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