St. Petersburg Times Online: Business

Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies

Suspect surrenders after standoff

JACOB H. FRIES
Published November 18, 2005

CLEARWATER - A Clearwater man surrendered to SWAT team members about 9:30 a.m. this morning, about seven hours after he shot three people outside a neighbor's home and then barricaded himself inside his own house, authorities said.

The suspect, Jeffrey Devries, 44, of 1818 Beverly Circle, was taken into custody, authorities said.

The shooting victims were all taken to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg with non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities identified them as as:

* Samantha Sipka, 16, of 1820 Beverly Circle. She was flown to Bayfront and was in stable condition.

* Mark Hoover, 45, of 1820 Beverly Circle. He was identified as the fiance of Sipka's mother. He was taken to Bayfront by ambulance and was in stable condition.

* Jason Biaso, 19, of Safety Harbor. He was taken by ambulance to Bayfront, where he was treated and released.

The shooting took place outside Sipka and Hoover's home at 1820 Beverly Circle, just east of Keene Road and just north of Lakeview Road at about 1:50 a.m. today, authorities said. The three victims were smoking cigarettes outside the house before the shooting occurred.

Both Clearwater police and Pinellas County sheriff's deputies responded to the scene because the shooting took place at a home in unincorporated Pinellas, and Devries retreated to his home, which is just inside the city of Clearwater.

After the shooting, Devries went next door to his home and barricaded himself inside. The Clearwater police SWAT team initially responded, and later the Sheriff's Office's SWAT team relieved Clearwater police.

Devries surrendered, but did not fully comply with deputies' instructions and was hit with a rubber bullet and was Tasered, authorities said. He was being checked out medically, but authorities said they did not believe he was injured seriously, if at all.

Some homes in the area around the shooting had been evacuated, authorities said, and Keene Road was closed between Lakeview and Druid Road during the standoff.

© Copyright, St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.