VERO BEACH, Fla. (NEXSTAR) – Two newly hired physical education teachers at a Florida elementary school were arrested after the shooting of a man whose apartment they entered, thinking it belonged to someone else, following a night of drinking.
“Nothing good is happening after midnight,” said Sheriff Eric Flowers during a news conference. “These two guys are going out, they’re drinking at these bars, by 4 a.m. they’re involved in a shooting.”
The pair walked into the Vero Beach home around 4:40 a.m. on Oct. 10, according to the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.
According to an arrest affidavit, one of the teachers mistakenly climbed into bed with the man, his wife and their baby, and the other teacher went to the bathroom before the male occupant of the house escorted them out.
Sheriff Flowers said that the two men apparently thought they were at the home of a woman they had visited several hours earlier.
“Mr. Hallback went in and got back in the bed he thought was the young lady’s bed, but it was actually the couple’s bed,” Sheriff Flowers said of Akkua Hallback, 27, one of the teachers involved in the incident.
The arrest report says Darius Cohen, the other teacher, got into a scuffle with the male occupant while outside. The report says Cohen chased him and fired four shots, striking him once in the back.
The sheriff’s office said the man’s injury wasn’t life-threatening.
David Moore, the school district superintendent, said during the news conference that he fired both men from their teaching jobs last week.
Cohen, 26, is facing a charge of attempted felony murder. His fellow teacher, Akkua Hallback, 27, is facing a charge of possession of a controlled substance.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
