A suspect has been arrested and charged in a shooting in Florida during Halloween fun early Sunday that left two people dead – including a 14-year-old boy – and more than a dozen injured, police said.
Tyrell Stephen Phillips, 22, was charged with second-degree murder after the bloodbath, Tampa police announced Sunday afternoon.
Authorities have not identified the two dead but both are boys – aged 14 and 20.
A grieving father told WFLA his 14-year-old son Elijah Jaquan Wilson was among the dead.
“I’ve lost my son, I’ve lost my second son to gun violence,” Emmitt Wilson told the station, adding, “2014, I lost my son. Now here it is, 2023, and my baby boy, he’s now gone from gun violence.”
Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said during a news conference that a fight between two gangs sparked the shooting. One of the shooting victims died at the scene and the other succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
Tyrell Stephens Phillips, 22, is charged with second-degree murder. Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office
Police said 16 more victims were hospitalized, including 15 who were hit by hail, but only five are still in hospital recovering. The injured victims ranged in age from 18 to 27 years old.
In total, 18 people were injured.
Chief Bercaw said criminal charges were brought against Phillips quickly as a result of several tips from the public.
“We made arrests quickly and with a sense of desperation,” said Bercaw. “If you commit a crime in Tampa, you will pay for it and you will be prosecuted.
Officers are seen at the scene after an early morning shooting on Sunday.ZUMAPRESS.com Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw speaks with Emmitt Wilson, center, near the scene where he says his 14-year-old son Elijah Wilson was killed.ZUMAPRESS.com
He said during a press conference that police were “looking at other potential shooters.”
The shooting happened in the Ybor City neighborhood shortly before 3 a.m. where several bars and clubs are located. Hundreds of people were on the streets as many new establishments were closed, a police spokesman said.
Many Halloween revelers were wearing costumes, drinking and chatting in the street when about a dozen gunshots rang out. Then eight more shots were fired seconds later, according to footage posted online.
Police treated several people who were lying on the ground for injuries, video showed afterward.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor condemned how another shooting in the country led to many casualties.
“We have to say, as a country, that is enough,” he said during an afternoon press conference.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
