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More than 20 patrol cars and a helicopter join the search after the shooting in the garage at a home on Gardenia Drive.
By CARRIE JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 7, 2002
CITRUS SPRINGS -- A young man was shot in the left side of his chest during a dispute in the garage of a Citrus Springs house Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
Jeremy Mason was flown by helicopter to Tampa General Hospital. His condition was not available Tuesday evening, but authorities said he was conscious and alert en route to the hospital.
By Tuesday evening, the Citrus County Sheriff's Office had launched a massive search for two men suspected in the 3 p.m. shooting at 2511 W Gardenia Drive. More than 20 patrol cars and a helicopter searched for two black men in their early 20s driving a tan, older model, four-door car.
Both men are about 6 feet tall and 200 pounds with short hair, according to Lt. Joe Eckstein. The man suspected of shooting Mason with an unknown caliber handgun has a gold front tooth and was last seen wearing a white shirt and blue jeans.
The other man was wearing yellow shorts and a white shirt, Eckstein said.
Mason's age was not available Tuesday evening, but Eckstein said he was in his early 20s. Mason lives at the Gardenia Drive home, which is owned by Betty and William Wilhoit of Hollywood, according to county property records.
At least three other people were at the home when the shooting occurred in the garage, which had been turned into a makeshift bedroom, Eckstein said.
Eckstein said the motive for the shooting was unknown. There was no sign of forced entry, and the two men were believed to be "invited guests" into the home, he said.
More than a dozen deputies and detectives swarmed to the residence, located on a tree-lined street near Citrus Springs Middle School. Two teenage boys and an older blond woman sat on the driveway, waiting to be interviewed by officers. Eckstein declined to name them or say whether they were connected to the shooting.
Curious neighbors wandered over to the fluttering yellow crime scene tape.
"This is not normal, no," said Joseph Vosberg, who lives just down the street from Mason. "It's usually very quiet here."
Vosberg, the pastor of First Assembly of God church, said he did not know who lived at the house but typically saw a couple of teenagers there. Loud parties were occasionally held at the residence, he said.
Another neighbor, Joseph Kover Jr., said he confronted Mason only two days ago and asked him to stop roughing up neighborhood children.
"I said, 'Look, do not attack any of the kids who live in this neighborhood,' " Kover said.
Kover said Mason had lived in the house for about a year and was known for driving his van up and down neighborhood streets. He did not know the other residents at the home.
"This is really too bad," he said. "We live in a nice neighborhood and then something like this has to happen."
-- Carrie Johnson can be reached at 860-7309 or cjohnson@sptimes.com.