Fatal Shooting In Cop’s Home Accidental, Attorney Says: Report

LITHIA, FL — The attorney for a Tampa police officer says the fatal shooting of a teen inside the officer's home was an accident, according to a report. James Bradley Hulett, 16, died from a gunshot wound in the Bridgewater Drive home of a Tampa police officer on Dec. 13, 2019.

Four teens — the officer's son, Hulett and two others — were at the home while the officer wasn't home, reports say. Richard Escobar, the attorney for the officer and his son, said his client had locked his bedroom door, but that his teen son had broken into the room to find a plunger, Channel 8 News reported.

The son's friends followed him in and saw the officer's personal gun in a holster on a table in the bathroom, Escobar told the outlet, adding that the gun was correctly stored according to the Safe Storage Act.

“The other kids see the gun. They become interested. The gun goes from the master bedroom into the other bedroom where the boys were playing,” Escobar said, according to the report.

Escobar said neither the officer nor his son had committed a crime, the outlet reported.

Normally, Channel 8 reported Escobar as saying, the officer empties the gun of rounds before leaving. This time, however, there was a round in the chamber.

Related:

• Sheriff Submits Evidence From Teen's Shooting To State Attorney
• After Fatal Shooting, Newsome Students Say They Don't Feel Safe

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said the Tampa Police officer who owns the home provided limited information to detectives through his attorney.

"All involved, of course, have the right to counsel, but this limitation has prolonged the investigation as we have tried to determine how this young man died on the evening of December 13th," Chronister said. "Despite these many hurdles, our investigators have worked swiftly and diligently to ensure that all evidence available is considered.

"These are complicated cases that require an in-depth understanding of what took place," he said. "This young victim's family deserves our empathy and, frankly, a better world. In this fallen world, the best we can do is find a path to justice and, hopefully within that justice, some comfort of peace."

Students of Newsome High School, the school attended by the three teens present at the shooting, told administrators they don't feel safe at the school.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said the investigation into the shooting is ongoing and have made no arrests. In the meantime, the three 15- and 16-year-old teens involved continue to attend Newsome High School.

"I'm here to ask you some hard questions and for you to reconsider your current course of action, which appears to be a wait-and-see approach," said Allea Newbold, the mother of two Newsome students. "By doing this, you have the appearance of not performing your own threat assessment."