Tampa police address ‘false narrative' that officers opened fire during deadly Father’s Day shooting
TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Police Department is searching for the suspect or suspects accused of shooting a killing a man on Father’s Day in Tampa while dispelling rumors that officers fired their weapons.
Deadly Father’s Day shooting
What we know:
According to TPD, a large crowd had gathered near Albany Avenue and Main Street around 10 p.m. on Sunday for an impromptu Father’s Day celebration when a disturbance broke out and shots were fired.
Police officers who were trying to disperse the crowd said they ran to where the gunshots rang out and found a man suffering from a gunshot wound.
The victim was taken to an area hospital where he died.
No suspect description
What we don't know:
It is unclear what the disturbance was about that led to the shooting.
Police also do not have a suspect description, nor do they know if there was more than one suspect.
‘False narrative’
What they're saying:
"We are also aware of false narratives being shared," Messmer said. "False narratives about Tampa police officers being involved in this shooting. Unfortunately, false narratives do nothing to further the investigation. All they do is erode public trust. Bodycam video has been released and what we can see from the bodycam video is that Tampa police officers were not causing any violence. They were running to the scene of the violence and immediately rendering aid to the victim. No Tampa police officer fired their weapon or was, in any way, shape or form, involved in this shooting. This was a shooting that arose from what we believe a disturbance."
"We are not going to allow any type of illegal activity," stated Deputy Chief Patrick Messmer "We are not going to allow block parties that take over the streets and city blocks. When we see things like that happening, we are going to address them quickly like we did yesterday."
‘Somebody knows something’
What you can do:
"We know that there were hundreds of people out there," Messmer stated. "We know that someone knows what happened, and we are asking for anyone who knows anything to come forward and give us information to give closure to the Thomas family."
Anyone with information about the deadly shooting is asked to call detectives at (813) 231-6130 and reference case number: 2026-367709.
The Source: Information for this story was collected from the Tampa Police Department, which stated the details of the deadly shooting in a press release and Deputy Chief Patrick Messmer who held a press conference Monday morning explaining the role officers played and dispelling rumors that officers fired their guns.