Shutting Down Ybor Businesses Early Not A Solution, Say Ybor Owners

TAMPA, FL — Ybor City business owners say a feud between groups of young people that culminated in a shooting that killed two people and wounded 16 others in Ybor City Sunday morning has nothing to do with the way they operate their businesses and shouldn't result in the businesses being penalized.

Ybor City bar owners and employees converged on Tampa City Hall Thursday morning to protest a proposal by one city council member to close nightclubs, restaurants and bars in Ybor City two hours early as a result of the shooting that garnered national media attention.

On Sunday at 2:47 a.m., just minutes before the bars and nightclubs closed at 3 a.m., Tampa police responded to the 1600 block of East 7th Avenue, the major thoroughfare in historic Ybor City, to a shooting that killed two people and injured 16 others.

According to Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw, approximately 50 police officers were working along the 7th Avenue corridor at the time of the shooting. Tampa Fire Rescue squads were also in the area working on another call when they heard the gunfire and rushed to the scene to help provide aid to the wounded.

Bercaw said the shooting was due to a feud between two gangs, resulting in a 14-year-old boy dying at the scene and a 20-year-old dying at the hospital from gunshot wounds. Police originally said 19 people were taken to the hospital with injuries but, on Thursday, Bercaw amended the number to 16 people, ranging in age from 18 to 27 years old, injured, 15 of which suffered gunshot wounds. Five of those injured remain in the hospital recovering from their injuries.

Within six hours, Tampa police detectives arrested 22-year-old Tyrell Stephen Phillips and charged him with second-degree murder for his role in the fatal shootings. Bercaw said Phillips turned himself in to police, claiming he fired his gun in self-defense.

Bercaw said at least two other shooters remain at large, and Tampa police are asking residents who may have taken video of the shooting to upload their videos to a portal that's been set up by the FBI. Bercaw said the videos viewed so far have corroborated Phillips' story that he was defending himself.

"What happened Sunday morning was a true tragedy. This crime scene is one of the hardest things I've ever dealt with," Bercaw told city council members Thursday. "If there's any silver lining, it's the outpouring of care and the way the community has come together. We hoped this type of shooting would never happen in our city. But I'll tell you what, this city was prepared and responded extremely well."

Bercaw said he has spent the past two evenings speaking with residents and business owners about the crime and suggestions for preventing future tragedies. He's also increased police patrols throughout Ybor City.

"Violent crime is down in Ybor, but it doesn't matter. It's the fear of crime," he said. "We have offered to escort any employees to their cars."

Among the proposals under consideration, Tampa City Council member Gwendolyn Henderson announced that she planned to make a motion during Thursday’s regularly scheduled council meeting calling for businesses in the Ybor Historic District to temporarily close at 1 a.m. instead of 3 a.m.

She said the temporary measure would last for six months, giving the city time to study the violence in Ybor City and identify potential solutions.

“Senseless acts of gun violence are always difficult. When it’s nearby, the reality is horrific, so I have spent the past several days talking with Ybor residents, Ybor business owners, law enforcement and Mayor Castor about what steps we can take to eliminate an environment that promotes violence during the late hours in Ybor City," said Henderson, whose district includes Ybor City. “It is true that there is no one-size-fits-all or flawless solution, but I am confident that we will make a difference.”

Related:

• 2 Additional Suspects Sought In Deadly Ybor City Mass Shooting
• 2 Killed, 18 Wounded In Halloween Weekend Shooting: Tampa
• 1 Arrested In Tampa Halloween Shooting That Killed 2, Injured 18 More
• Temporary Ybor City Curfew Sought By Tampa City Council Member

In addition, Henderson said her motion will direct city staff to do the following:

• Keep East 7th Avenue open to traffic even during closing time on Fridays and Saturdays to limit loitering.
• In addition to Ybor City Community Redevelopment Agency funding, identify sources of revenue to expand community policing and step up code enforcement to crack down on noise violations, loitering, public drinking and other infractions.

“These measures are intended to help ensure Ybor City remains a safe and thriving neighborhood no matter what time of day,” Henderson said.

Henderson, a Tampa native who grew up in the working-class Carver City neighborhood, said she is also asking Hillsborough County Public Schools Interim Superintendent Van Ayres to consider sending a recorded message to the parents of high school students stressing that Ybor nightlife is not a place for teenagers.

Thursday afternoon, council member Bill Carlson has asked Bercaw to address the council on the events that took place Sunday morning. He said, to date, the only news the council has received is from city news releases.

However, he said he's watched all the videos that were taken of the shooting scene and said he was impressed by the performance of police officers.

"As I was watching the videos of what took place, you could see all the people running from the scene and then saw two Tampa police officers walking into the line of fire," said Carlson. "I think a lot of people woke up Sunday morning grateful that these men and women of the Tampa PD are protecting us."

Prior to discussing solutions, the council heard from a series of Ybor City business owners, employees and residents who said that closing businesses two hours early was no solution. All it would do is hurt businesses and employees still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among those speaking was attorney Luke Lirot, representing a number of the businesses in Ybor City, who said the businesses shouldn't be penalized because of gang members who aren't even old enough to enter their bars and nightclubs.

"The businesses I represent are second to none in the security they offer," he said. "They are probably as safe as any place in the country. This is a much broader cultural issue. Limiting hours of operation that would impede people who have made sure people have done everything they can to make sure their businesses are safe isn't helping anyone. It's a threat to the financial well-being of my clients. It would be devastating to them."

Eric Schiller, owner of Gaspar's Grotto in Ybor City for 38 years, believes the violence is the result of the city closing 7th Avenue to traffic on weekend nights.

"It's given kids who have no money and are too young to be in the club's a stage," Schiller said. "They gather in groups along 7th Avenue and violence breaks out. You don't have kids facing off on the sidewalks when there's traffic going by. We must keep the traffic moving."

He recalled when the city passed a curfew for youth to prevent them from hanging out in Ybor City but said it's never been enforced. He believes that would go a long way to solving the problem.

Assistant City Attorney Andrea Zelman agreed.

She said businesses have a legal right under their alcohol beverage permits to operate until 3 a.m. and the city has no vehicle to shut them down early.

The city can call for a curfew under a local state of emergency but that curfew can only be imposed for seven days and renewed three times, Zelman said.

However, the city does have a Ybor City Child Protection Ordinance in place that's never been enforced but it could be used to prevent youngsters from gathering in the streets or in parking lots in Ybor City.

Carlson recommended the city move in that direction.

"It's not intended to solve every problem but is a tool law enforcement would have," he said.

Dr. Jamaris Glenn, a co-owner of 7th + Grove, in Ybor City agreed. He said cutting hours would hurt their black- and LGBTQ-owned business that trains minority people how to open and operate their own businesses.

"It would destroy dreams and I'd have to lay off people including felons and single mothers who've already suffered enough," Glenn said.

As for 14-year-old Elijah Wilson, who was killed in the shooting Sunday, Glenn said it isn't the Ybor City businesses that failed him.

"The community failed him, the education system failed him and the police failed him," Glenn said. "Now Ybor City is a ghost town."

Ivan Rivera, who serves as the president of the VM Ybor Neighborhood Association, said he's worked for years to improve the safety and reputation of Ybor City.

"This whole thing is heartbreaking," he said. "But I don't want to see businesses in Ybor penalized because of something that's plaguing the United States. There's no reason for a 14-year-old to be on 7th Avenue at 2:30 in the morning. That needs to be addressed."