Teen shot at Cocoa shopping plaza

Authorities have arrested a man in connection with a shooting at a Cocoa shopping plaza, which left a 16-year-old boy wounded.  

Michael Lloyd Cooper, 19, is now facing charges of attempted murder.

Officers arrived at the Sav-A-Lot Plaza, at 1208 Dixon Blvd. after 1 p.m. to discover the teenager had suffered a gunshot wound to his lower back.  He was with an 18 year old male at the time of the shooting, and both teens were leaving the Barber Shop at the plaza.  

Officers said that, as they were pulling out of a parking space, shots were fired into the vehicle from outside the rear passenger side of the car, wounding the teen who is in the front passenger seat.  He was airlifted to a hospital and his condition was not immediately known.

A short time later, a second shooting was reported in the Rockledge area of U.S. Highway 1 and Florida Avenue, but no one was injured in that shooting, according to police.  Rockledge police officers were able to detain a a suspect in that shooting who was identified as a the suspect in the first shooting by the 18 year old victim.

The victim was able to positively identify the suspect who was later identified as Michael Cooper.  Detectives with the Cocoa Police Department are working with Rockledge Police to determine any links between the two shootings.  

Investigators do not believe the first shooting was a random act, as the parties involved knew each other.