Seminole Heights Shootings: Mayor Says 'It Could Happen Again'

TAMPA, FL - A large contingent of Tampa police will remain in Seminole Heights “as long as it takes” to catch a mysterious killer who has terrorized the neighborhood with four shooting deaths since Oct. 9. Mayor Bob Buckhorn reiterated earlier comments from last month that large numbers of law enforcement officers will remain in Seminole Heights until the shooting cases are solved.

In an interview on CNN, Buckhorn admitted that he is frustrated that the “cold-blooded” killer has not been caught, adding that he was also “mad.”

In the latest shooting death on Tuesday, Buckhorn said police were at the crime scene in a matter of minutes, but the suspect “vanished like the mist.”

Despite the large police presence in the neighborhood, the mayor said: “I can’t promise you it won’t happen again."

The NAACP says it is concerned about the high number of arrests in the neighborhood. Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan answered questions Thursday night from NAACP members during a community meeting.

He said police officers are stopping everyone. “We’ve got four dead people. How many bodies have to stack up before somebody says, ‘Hey, we’ve got to put a stop to this.’ ” said Dugan.

Police say they’re confident the killer lives in Seminole Heights, that he knows the streets which allows him to escape in a matter of minutes.

On Thursday, Gov. Rick Scott directed the Florida Highway Patrol to deploy additional officers to the Seminole Heights area. Scott said he was adding more FHP officers to assist the Tampa Police Department's efforts to keep the Seminole Heights neighborhood safe.

Scott said the officers will work with Tampa police in patrolling the neighborhood. The deployment of FHP troopers is in addition to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's squad of agents assigned to neighborhood canvassing. FDLE also has agents assigned to vet leads and is providing analytical assistance. FDLE lab analysts continue to process numerous items of evidence. FDLE has also contributed $10,000 to the Crime Stoppers reward. The reward is now at $100,000.

On Tuesday, Ronald Felton, an unemployed construction worker who was on his way to volunteer at a food bank, was gunned down on Nebraska Avenue about 5 a.m. Police say Felton's death is linked to three other killings in the neighborhood last month.

The former "person of interest" in the Seminole Heights shootings is now considered a suspect, Dugan said. At a Wednesday news conference, the police chief showed a video taken moments before Tuesday's shooting and police believe that person is also shown in a video taken in the area where the first shooting occurred on Oct. 9 . Benjamin Mitchell was shot and died from his wounds. The new video can be viewed here.

Dugan said police don't believe it is a coincidence that the same person was in the area of Tuesday morning's shooting and the Oct. 9 shooting.

The Seminole Heights neighborhood has been on edge since the three shooting deaths occurred last month in the span of 11 days. Police say they have no motive, but authorities consider the four shootings to be related.

The first victim, Mitchell, 22, was waiting at the Route 9 bus stop on 15th Street on his way to see his girlfriend when he was shot. The body of Monica Hoffa, 32, was found on Oct. 13. Anthony Naiboa, a 20-year-old Middleton High School graduate, was shot and killed on a sidewalk at N 15th and E. Conover streets on Oct. 19.

Hoffa, a waitress at a local IHOP, was walking to a friend's home when she was shot. Her body was found in a vacant lot. Naiboa had mistakenly taken the wrong bus to return home from work and was walking to a bus stop on 15th Street when he was shot about 8 p.m. on Oct. 19.

Image via AP Photo/Chris O'Meara; 2nd image via city of Tampa