Police arrest 22-year-old man after mass shooting in Florida over Halloween weekend

Christopher Cann, USA TODAY
·3 min read
384

Police arrested a 22-year-old man Sunday in connection with a mass shooting in Florida, that killed two people and wounded 16 others over the Halloween weekend, authorities said.

Tyrell Stephen Phillips was taken into custody on a charge of second-degree murder with a firearm in connection with the shooting that killed a 14-year-old boy and 22-year-old man. He is scheduled to appear in front of a judge Monday morning.

The shooting in Tampa's historic Ybor City neighborhood, just northeast of downtown Tampa, stemmed from a dispute between two people that quickly grew, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said at a Sunday news conference. At least two gunman opened fire on the crowded streets as people emptied from closing bars and nightclubs just before 3 a.m. Sunday morning.

The Tampa Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office investigates a fatal shooting in the Ybor City neighborhood on Oct. 29, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. According to reports, two people from two different groups opened fire as hundreds of people were on the street early Sunday morning in an area filled with bars and clubs.
The Tampa Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office investigates a fatal shooting in the Ybor City neighborhood on Oct. 29, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. According to reports, two people from two different groups opened fire as hundreds of people were on the street early Sunday morning in an area filled with bars and clubs.

Police were in the area and "within seconds they were running after people," Bercaw said. The many wounded were rushed to area hospitals. Police initially reported 18 people were injured in the shooting, but later said 16 were hurt and taken to nearby hospitals. Fifteen of the injured people were struck by gunfire, according to the Tampa Police Department.

A "plethora of tips," led police to arrest and charge Phillips. It's unclear if Phillips had an attorney as of Monday morning.

As of Sunday afternoon, many of the people who were hospitalized, between the ages 18 and 27, had been treated and released. Five remained in the hospital, according to a the Tampa Police Department.

The case remains open and investigators are continuing to review tips, surveillance video and are looking at "other shooters involved," Bercaw said.

Family and friends console each other while the Tampa Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office investigates a fatal shooting in the Ybor City neighborhood on Oct. 29, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. According to reports, two people from two different groups opened fire as hundreds of people were on the street early Sunday morning in an area filled with bars and clubs.

"What happened is completely unacceptable, and the Tampa Police Department is not going to tolerate it," he said. "And if you're going to be out there with a gun you're going to pay for it."

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, former Tampa police chief, said reform is needed to curb gun violence plaguing the nation.

"We have got to say as a country that enough is enough," she said at a news conference Sunday. "We cannot just come back to the microphones day after day and give our sincere heartfelt condolences to the victims of firearm violence. We, as a country, have got to make decisions."

The Tampa Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office investigates a fatal shooting in the Ybor City neighborhood on Oct. 29, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. According to reports, two people from two different groups opened fire as hundreds of people were on the street early Sunday morning in an area filled with bars and clubs.
The Tampa Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office investigates a fatal shooting in the Ybor City neighborhood on Oct. 29, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. According to reports, two people from two different groups opened fire as hundreds of people were on the street early Sunday morning in an area filled with bars and clubs.

At least 25 people injured in other weekend mass shootings

Since Friday, 12 mass shootings – defined as when four or more people, not including the shooter, are shot – have occurred across the nation, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Many of the shootings, including those in Ybor, Chicago and Indianapolis, happened at large Halloween gatherings in the early hours of Sunday.

In Chicago, at least 15 people were shot at a Halloween party on Sunday, police said. Among the victims were six women and nine men between the ages of 26 and 53.

In Texarkana, Texas, three people were killed in a shooting Saturday night at a party in the back room of a business. One man died at the scene, and another man and a woman died overnight at a hospital, officials said.

In Indianapolis, 10 people aged 16 to 22 were shot, one of them fatally, at a party in an industrial park early Sunday, the Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.

Contributing: Vanessa Arredondo, USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida shooting suspect arrested after killing two near Tampa