NEW TAMPA, Fla. — It was standing room only Monday night at a town hall hosted by Tampa Police at New Tampa Community Park.

People packed the meeting after a number of violent incidents shook the area in the past week.

What You Need To Know

  • Tampa Police held a town hall meeting in New Tampa following a violent week in the area

  • Residents packed the gathering to tell police their concerns and learn more about recent deadly shootings

  • Chief Lee Bercaw said it appears none of the incidents are related

  • Residents said they want to see a beefed-up police presence in the area

“These people should not feel OK that in broad daylight they can shoot people,” one woman told a panel that included Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw and City Councilman Luis Viera. 

She was referring to a fatal shooting that happened on Regents Park Drive at Bruce B. Downs Boulevard just before 3 p.m. on June 17.

That was just the first incident to rattle the area. Among the others - a decomposing body was found at Metro Self Storage on Dona Michelle Drive on Friday, a shooting on New Tampa Boulevard. Friday afternoon that left two dead and one injured, and an early morning shooting Sunday on McKinley Drive that left three people injured and Charles Jones, a rapper known as Julio Foolio, dead. 

The crowd came to Monday night’s meeting to find out more information about the cases and try to learn why this is happening in their community.

“I’m very concerned,” said Kris Smith, a 20-year resident. “As a New Tampa citizen, lived here in a relatively crime-free area, very minor crimes in the past. Obviously, the shootings have really put this area on the map.”

Bercaw was able to provide some updates at the meeting.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the Regents Park Drive homicide, but the chief said they’re communicating closely with TPD. The chief said a car was recovered and the sheriff’s office is working leads. While the chief couldn’t say for sure that the case was related to drugs, he said there is some indication that may have been a factor. Bercaw told the crowd an arrest was made Monday in the storage facility shooting.

According to TPD, Andre Aris, 29, was arrested and charged with first degree murder and grand theft motor vehicle in connection with the death of a 35-year-old man. The chief also said it appears those involved in the McKinley Drive shooting were from Jacksonville.

“There’s no evidence to show any of them are connected, and there’s no evidence to show any of these are random,” Bercaw told reporters before the meeting. “I’m out here to reassure the community that we are out here in full force, but we all have to work together.”

Bercaw and the panel heard from 14 speakers who questioned why this was happening in their community and asked for beefed-up police presence. Law enforcement said this kind of violence is being seen in communities nationwide, and officers were out in force.

“Immediately after these shootings, you had detectives who were in plain clothes going to every house, every door cam, every business, any video that we can get to hold folks accountable,” said TPD Deputy Chief Calvin Johnson. 

“We do not want this to be the new normal,” said Smith. “We hope this is an aberration and that this kind of activity won’t be continued.”

Police said the public’s help is needed to make that happen. Anyone with information on the Bruce B. Downs shooting is asked to reach out to HCSO at (813) 247-8200. Tips on the other cases can be submitted to TPD by calling (813) 231-6130.