Tampa police investigating 2 shootings downtown

Downtown Tampa sees 2 shootings on New Year's Eve

FOX 13 's Evan Axelbank reports on two shootings that happened just two blocks from each other in downtown Tampa during the final hours of 2024 and the beginning hours of 2025.

TAMPA, Fla. - At Curtis Hixon Park, a cozy "winter village" was shattered by gunfire with just an hour left in 2024. Only an hour into 2025, just two blocks away, at the intersection of Tampa and Cass, a downtown intersection was covered in evidence markers.

In the first incident, Tampa police say a security guard in his late 30s was trying to shoo a bunch of teens off property near the Tampa Museum of Art when he heard a pop, and realized he'd been hit.

"People like the victim in this case, the security guard, are heroes," said Maj. Eric DeFelice. "They're going out there knowing the risks that they face on a regular basis and doing it anyway. So I'd like to thank him for what he did to help us."

In the second incident, police say two groups of teens were having an altercation when the shooting started.

A 16-year-old teen girl was hit in the lower leg by a bullet.

READ: Tampa police investigating shooting that injured teenage girl: TPD

There is surveillance footage, however brief, of that incident.

"We know how word travels and things are heard the next day," said DeFelice. "If your child was involved, maybe they didn't have a firsthand account of what happened, but maybe heard or saw something. Please let the Tampa Police Department know."

Police say they had robust deployments of officers on regular patrol, undercover ones and even detectives.

TPD says this should be a reminder to parents who let their teens go downtown during high-profile celebrations without supervision.

"I'd say for them to think twice about that. They need to be there. They need to hold their kids responsible," said DeFelice. "Letting kids roam around out there is not the safest thing to do for them."

Unfortunately, they say more parents didn't make sure their kids went to safer gatherings, like the city's Stay and Play program that was held at different community centers from 6pm to midnight.

Anyone with information is asked to call Tampa police.

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