Indian River PE Teachers Enter Stranger’s Apartment And Shoot Resident

Photo Courtesy of Indian River County Sheriff’s Office

Two Indian River County physical education teachers were arrested on allegations of mistakenly walking into someone’s apartment, with one of them getting in bed with the resident, his partner and their baby in an encounter that ended in a shooting.

The two men are 26-year-olds Darius Tyonne Cohen and Akkua Jamel Hallback. According to the Indian River County sheriff’s report, the two had been drinking and were caught on surveillance video on Oct. 10 letting themselves into the apartment around 4 a.m.

According to a sheriff’s report, the victim and his partner woke up to the sounds of voices and people in their home.

“The wife initially was the one that heard them and alerted her husband; she started screaming his name,” said Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers. “That’s when he addressed the one that was in bed and trying to keep them calm because of the children in the house.”

Surveillance video showed the two men being escorted out of the apartment by the victim and into the parking lot, where a fight between Cohen and the victim broke out, officials said. Hallback tried breaking up the fight before Cohen ran after the victim with a gun, officials said. Four shots could be heard off-camera.

“I woke up to a man getting into the bed, and when I got up, I encountered another man in my apartment, and we got into a scuffle, and I ended up getting shot,” Flowers said, describing what the victim told him.

“Cohen admitted that after the altercation with the victim, he came in possession of a firearm and shot at the victim as (he) was running away,” the report stated.

The report said the victim suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the back.

Both men have since been arrested.

According to the sheriff’s report, Cohen faces an attempted felony murder charge, and Hallback faces a charge of possession of controlled substances without a prescription after drugs were found in his home.

The two teachers had been recently hired by the Indian River County School District but have since been fired, officials said. Hallback taught at Sebastian Elementary. Cohen taught at Indian River Academy.

Aziah Kamari

Aziah Kamari Pless is a writer and content creator with 5+ years of experience in freelance writer, editor and PR roles. A graduate of Florida State University, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English: Editing, Writing and Media. She incorporates her interests in music, fashion, media and entertainment to create versatile and compelling content.