http://tbo.com/news/crime/police-show-video-of-suspects-car-in-killing-of-boy-14-20150601/
TAMPA — Did Tampa’s no-snitch culture cost another young teenager his life?
Edward Harris III thinks so. He says his son, 14-year-old Edward Harris IV, witnessed a stabbing last year and cooperated with police. A few months later, somebody shot at him five times but missed.
Late Sunday afternoon, Edward Harris IV was killed in a driveby shooting on the north side of Woodland Terrace Park.
Tampa police said the shooting did not appear to be a random act but stopped short of saying the motive for the homicide was retaliation in a part of Tampa where talking to police carries with it very real risks.
Edward Harris III urged anyone with information about the person who killed his son to step forward.
“They’re still out there,” he said Monday afternoon of the shooters. “They’re still out there and they’re going to drive by here and they’re going to do it again.
“You have to speak up,” he said. “If you don’t, this type of activity will continue. The people who live in these neighborhoods don’t do anything about it and these people are going to continue to kill innocent people. It’s a constant threat until something is done here. This is not the first time.”
Detectives initially had no leads because everyone who was at the scene, including Harris’ friends, fled, “leaving him there to die,” said Tampa police Assistant Chief Mary O’Connor.
But police later obtained a surveillance video that shows a silver sedan driving by a group of people including Harris. O’Connor said the shots were fired from that car. Late Monday afternoon, police said they had located the car but no charges had been filed.
Harris was chatting with friends who had arrived in an orange car parked on the north side of the park when the silver car drove past, turned around and returned. That’s when the shots were fired and everyone scattered, leaving Harris suffering from a single gunshot wound, O’Connor said. Detectives on Monday located the driver of the orange car and were questioning him Monday afternoon, she said.
O’Connor said the shooters were “extremely dangerous and extremely bold to shoot and kill a 14-year-old boy in broad daylight just outside the confines of a city park.”
O’Connor asked the community to come forward with any information about the shooting, but she acknowledged that it is difficult in a neighborhood that has a lot of crime. People who cooperate with police can themselves be targeted.
The reluctance of witnesses or even victims to cooperate with police has been a problem for years but has become particularly noticeable in Tampa because of a spate of shootings since the beginning of the year. In many of the shootings, investigators were met with a wall of silence when interviewing witnesses or others who might have provided information that would lead to the shooters.
O’Connor said homicides in the city are rising. From January through May of 2014, there were 10 homicides. Over the same period this year, there have been 18.
TAMPA — Did Tampa’s no-snitch culture cost another young teenager his life?
Edward Harris III thinks so. He says his son, 14-year-old Edward Harris IV, witnessed a stabbing last year and cooperated with police. A few months later, somebody shot at him five times but missed.
Late Sunday afternoon, Edward Harris IV was killed in a driveby shooting on the north side of Woodland Terrace Park.
Tampa police said the shooting did not appear to be a random act but stopped short of saying the motive for the homicide was retaliation in a part of Tampa where talking to police carries with it very real risks.
Edward Harris III urged anyone with information about the person who killed his son to step forward.
“They’re still out there,” he said Monday afternoon of the shooters. “They’re still out there and they’re going to drive by here and they’re going to do it again.
“You have to speak up,” he said. “If you don’t, this type of activity will continue. The people who live in these neighborhoods don’t do anything about it and these people are going to continue to kill innocent people. It’s a constant threat until something is done here. This is not the first time.”
Detectives initially had no leads because everyone who was at the scene, including Harris’ friends, fled, “leaving him there to die,” said Tampa police Assistant Chief Mary O’Connor.
But police later obtained a surveillance video that shows a silver sedan driving by a group of people including Harris. O’Connor said the shots were fired from that car. Late Monday afternoon, police said they had located the car but no charges had been filed.
Harris was chatting with friends who had arrived in an orange car parked on the north side of the park when the silver car drove past, turned around and returned. That’s when the shots were fired and everyone scattered, leaving Harris suffering from a single gunshot wound, O’Connor said. Detectives on Monday located the driver of the orange car and were questioning him Monday afternoon, she said.
O’Connor said the shooters were “extremely dangerous and extremely bold to shoot and kill a 14-year-old boy in broad daylight just outside the confines of a city park.”
O’Connor asked the community to come forward with any information about the shooting, but she acknowledged that it is difficult in a neighborhood that has a lot of crime. People who cooperate with police can themselves be targeted.
The reluctance of witnesses or even victims to cooperate with police has been a problem for years but has become particularly noticeable in Tampa because of a spate of shootings since the beginning of the year. In many of the shootings, investigators were met with a wall of silence when interviewing witnesses or others who might have provided information that would lead to the shooters.
O’Connor said homicides in the city are rising. From January through May of 2014, there were 10 homicides. Over the same period this year, there have been 18.
