Seminole Heights Shootings: Police Chief Will Patrol On Halloween

TAMPA, FL - Will Seminole Heights be safe for kids trick-or-treating during Halloween? Interim Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan promises it will be and says he will be among the costumed kids on the street to ensure their safety.

“I’m gonna go out there,” he said last week.“I’ll be personally on patrol, and you know what? If somebody wants to walk with me, they can walk with me. I’ll walk with their family and get candy with them. I might even take some of their candy.”

Along with a heavy police presence, the Tampa chapter of the Guardian Angels also will be on the streets in Seminole Heights for Halloween. The volunteer group says they are committed to being out every night through Halloween.

The Seminole Heights neighborhood has been on edge since three shooting deaths occurred in the span of 11 days. Police say they have no motive and the victims did not know each other, but authorities consider the shootings to be related.

Anthony Naiboa, the latest victim, was a 20-year-old Middleton High School graduate who was shot and killed on a sidewalk at N 15th and E. Conover streets on Oct. 19. Prior to Naiboa's death, 22-year-old Benjamin Mitchell and Monica Hoffa, 32, were found shot to death. Mitchell was shot on Oct. 9 and Hoffa's body was found on Oct. 13.

All three victims rode the bus and were alone when they were shot on the street, authorities said. None of them were robbed.

On Saturday, family members and strangers gathered at the Seminole Heights United Methodist Church for the funeral service of Naiboa.

Naiboa, who was autistic, recently graduated from Middleton High. “I did not see him at the back of the class. I saw him sitting in the front of the class—I was proud,” his father Casimar Naiboa said at the service.

Last week, the Tampa Police Department released a new video of a "person of interest" in the investigation of a gunman responsible for the shooting deaths. It is the second video of the "person of interest" released in the case.

The new video shows the person in the area where the first shooting happened on Oct. 9. Police, as they have for days now, are asking that anyone who might know the person to come forward.

The new video can be viewed here. Police say they brought in two people who they believed might be the person in the video. They were questioned and later released.

Over the past few weeks, the city has tried to make the Seminole Heights neighborhood as safe as possible. Tampa Electric Co. and city crews have been cutting foliage, boarding up vacant buildings and replacing burnt-out street lights in the area.

“We’re going to shine a very, very bright light on this community,” Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said.

Police have asked residents to keep porch lights on in the neighborhood at night. On Tuesday, Dugan wants residents to turn on their lights and hand out candy as they would on any normal Halloween.

Other trick-or-treating options are available for nervous Seminole Heights residents. The Seminole Heights United Methodist Church is organizing a "trunk or treat" party where kids will be able to gather candy from the trunks of vehicles. The church will set up the party in the church parking lot at 6111 N. Central Ave. Grilling begins at 5 p.m. and trick-or-treating begins at 6 p.m.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Image via Tampa Police Department