Tampa Police Department/X
Tampa Police Department Chief Lee Bercaw provides an update on the shooting that occurred in the 1600 block of 7th Avenue early Sunday morning. Two subjects died. One person was arrested.
CNN
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A 22-year-old suspect was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in a shooting on a crowded Tampa, Florida, street early Sunday morning that left two people dead and 16 others injured, authorities said.
The shooting began after an argument between two groups broke out as hundreds of people poured out of bars and nightclubs in Tampa’s Ybor City neighborhood just before 3 a.m. A 14-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man were killed. , said Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
Tyrell Stephen Phillips, 22, was arrested and charged with second degree murder.
Of the 16 people injured, 15 were shot and one person was seriously injured, Bercaw said. They were triaged on scene and transported by Tampa firefighters to nearby hospitals. Tampa Police said in a statement.
“Numerous other victims, aged 18 to 27, were medically treated and released from hospital. Five of them remain hospitalized, recovering from their injuries,” the statement said.
Police earlier said 18 people were injured in the shooting. Bercaw said two people were killed and 16 others injured.
It was one of several shootings that took place during celebrations across the country this weekend in the run-up to Halloween.
Tyrell Stephen Phillips now faces a charge of second-degree murder with a firearm, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said Sunday afternoon. There is no attorney on record for Phillips, according to jail records.
Officers were able to charge Phillips “because of the community coming forward and assisting us in this investigation,” Bercaw said, noting that police had received a “plethora” of information since his call to the public Sunday morning.
“See something, say something applies anywhere,” Bercaw said. “You could be in a mall. You could be in a movie theater. You could be in Ybor. Whenever you see something suspicious, you should notify us immediately.
Bercaw said officers were present when the incident occurred and responded within seconds.
“People were out on Saturday evening. It’s three o’clock, the bars are open, there are hundreds of them on the street,” Bercaw said.
Police said two handguns were found at the scene, one of which was stolen. They are investigating whether other shooters were involved.
State Attorney Suzy Lopez said her office was working alongside law enforcement to respond to Sunday’s shooting.
“We will assist in the investigation and be prepared to vigorously pursue anyone who uses senseless gun violence and harms our community,” Lopez said Sunday afternoon.
The Tampa Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is on scene to assist in the investigation, the agency said in a statement. statement about Sunday afternoon.
“What happened here is tragic, families need to wake up and see on the news what happened here tonight,” Bercaw said.
Authorities said they knew there was “unrest or a problem between the two groups”, and that an unidentified man, who they suspect of being involved in the incident, ” delivered and detectives are currently questioning him.” They also ask people for help by providing tips and videos.
“It’s a very complicated scene but what we know, at this point, was a disturbance or a fight between two groups,” adding “in this fight between two groups, we had hundreds of innocent people involved who were causing a nuisance. the path”. ” Bercaw said.
“We will hold these people accountable and bring them to justice, but we need the cooperation of the community for that, and that is our demand,” he added.
When asked if authorities suspect this incident was gang-related, the police chief responded, “At this point it’s early in the investigation, so that will be part of our investigation.” »
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said 50 Tampa police officers were deployed to the area when the shooting occurred.
“Lives lost and others changed forever. To what end?” Mayor Castor said in a statement about. “Poor split-second decisions and the proliferation of readily available weapons are responsible for these almost daily incidents. We can assign half of this equation.