Tampa Police Chief, State Attorney Address Rise In Teen Shootings

TAMPA, FL — Following last week's shooting in an apartment game room involving teens, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw and Hillsborough County State Attorney Suzy Lopez announced plans at a news conference Wednesday to crack down on gun crimes involving juveniles by prosecuting them as adults.

On the evening of June 15, Tampa police responded to a shooting in the game room of the West River Boulevard apartment complex in the 1500 block of West Main Street in which a teen was shot twice and suffered life-threatening wounds

A second teen was taken to the hospital after being grazed in the knee by a bullet as well.

According to police, both victims, along with six other teens who live at the apartment complex, were hanging out in the game room when another group of teens entered the room. Multiple members of the group using the game room began shooting at the second group. Police said it does not appear that the second group returned fire.

Detectives said they identified a 15-year-old as the shooter who struck the two injured teens and arrested him on June 17 on two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, shooting within a building, minor in possession of a firearm and violation of probation (battery) in connection.

"In less than 48 hours after this occurred, the juvenile is facing serious crimes and may be charged as an adult," said Bercaw. "It is fortunate that no one was killed in this incident. While we have arrested one of the teens involved, our detectives remain committed to their investigation and ask the community to provide tips regarding this, or any incident, that will help improve gun safety and keep guns out of the hand of our kids."

"Kids with guns making reckless decisions are a plague on our community, and they will be held accountable," said Lopez. "Kids need mentors, education, summer jobs, a
safe place to live and family support — not guns. The fact is that more and more teenagers are getting their hands on guns and making poor decisions."

She said her office has revamped its gun violence unit to focus on repeat juvenile offenders.

"As Hillsborough County state attorney, I can tell you my office will use every tool that we have to address gun violence and that tool is to prosecute the offenders," she said. "We will hold anyone regardless of age accountable for committing senseless acts of violence. Every week, my team and I meet with law enforcement to share information about our repeat offenders in an attempt to proactively address their behavior. I can't talk about specifics regarding this case, but I can tell you that age does not matter. If you have a gun and make a reckless decision to shoot at another person, you will not get a free pass based on your age. As we do in all cases like this, age does not matter. If you have a gun and make a reckless decision to shoot at another person, you will not get a free pass in Hillsborough County based on your age."

Since she was appointed state attorney in August, she said her office has been charging more minors committing gun violence as adults. On average, the percent of gun-related juvenile cases prosecuted as adults has increased by more than 20 percent, she said.

"While it would be our preference that there be no children handling guns in our community, anyone who uses a gun to commit an act of violence must face consequences to keep our community safe," she said. "These are hard decisions that we are willing to make."

While she said she prefers not to try teens in adult court, Lopez said she believes "brazen and violent gun violence must be addressed swiftly no matter the age."

“I have consoled too many families who have been victims of this senseless violence," she said. "I am dedicated to ensuring we hold criminals accountable for these heinous acts. The tool I have to fight teen gun violence is prosecution, and the state attorney’s office will use that tool when juveniles decide to make adult decisions that continually endanger our community. I've consoled mother, fathers, brothers and sisters in the 10 1/2 months I've been state attorney. Just this morning, I sat with a mom in the courthouse. Her 15-year-old son, Stevie, was killed on Thanksgiving night and three teenagers are being charged as adults in his shooting. As a community, we must stand up and say enough is enough.

Lopez noted that the entire shooting was captured on a surveillance video in the game room that was shown to the media at the news conference.

"We have seen a terrifying video like this one. It wasn't even that long ago that I stood before many of you talking about a teenager who shot at a group of teenagers at Curtis Hixon Park on the night of New Year's Day of this year. Families were ice skating in a nearby ice skating rink. And now we're back, she said. "The fact is that more and more teens are getting their hands on guns and making poor decisions that are endangering not only themselves but the community. The gun violence that we just saw on video in the community room took place where children and adults are supposed to have fun — safely. This video shows a teenagers' complete disregard for human life. He fires his gun indiscriminately where children and families go to play games. We were lucky the two victims are alive today. Events like this can turn out much, much differently. When teenagers make adult decision like they did in this video, they will not be treated as teenagers in the eyes of the law.

Bercaw said one of the major methods teens use to acquire guns involve burglarizing cars that residents carelessly leave unlocked with guns stowed inside. He said nearly 100 guns have been stolen from cars this year alone.

He's repeatedly posted notices on the police department's Facebook page urging residents to lock their car doors and, more importantly, never leave guns in cars in a program called "Locked and Unloaded." Additionally, Bercaw said, anyone in Tampa can go to a Tampa police district office and get a gun lock to secure their firearms for free.

"We cannot let them get in the hands of juveniles, and any juvenile that sees somebody with a gun, they need to call us and let us know and not associate with them.