Arrest Made In Deadly Hookah Lounge Shooting

TAMPA, FL — The Tampa Police Department has announced an arrest in a Saturday morning shooting at the Palace Hookah Lounge that left one man dead and four people injured.

According to the agency, Gary Omar Rivera Montanez, 22, of Tampa has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted first-degree murder following the April 1 shooting. Police say Montanez was “aggressively” flirting with several female patrons at the 219 S. Howard Ave. lounge.

Montanez focused much of his “aggressive flirting on a particular woman named Haven Mayo,” an email from the police department said. Mayo, 24, became uncomfortable and asked a man named Schneider Simplice for help.

Simplice, a former bouncer at the lounge, joined an on-duty bouncer, Khaled Ghoneim, in asking Montanez to leave, police say.

“As the defendant left, he was heard to say, ‘Don’t try me like this. I’ve got a gun,’” the email said.

Montanez did leave, police say, but at 4:35 a.m. he drove his car north on Howard Avenue from West Platt Street and “opened fire through his driver’s side window,” the email said. Montanez, police say, fired several shots into a crowd gathered near the lounge and in its parking lot.

One of the bullets fired, police say, struck Mike Franck, 34, of Tallahassee. Franck died at the scene after getting hit in the chest. Police say there are no indications that Franck had been involved in the altercation that occurred earlier.

At least four other people were struck in the spray of bullets, police say. Victims identified are Mayo, Justin King, 24, Donald Jocelin, 25, and Tobiasz Cudnik, 32. One of the victims was treated at the scene. The other three were taken to local hospitals with injuries that are described as non-life threatening.

Montanez fled north on Howard Avenue after the shooting, but was brought into custody a short time later at North Armenia Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the email said. After being read his rights, police say Montanez “admitted to being in an altercation at the Palace Lounge and to firing into the crowd.” He said he did so in self-defense, the email noted.

No further information is available at this time.

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Booking photo courtesy of the Tampa Police Department