Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

One injured as gunfire erupts on street

Someone asks men in a black Cadillac to slow down, a witness says. After an argument, the shooting starts.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published October 12, 2006

	[Times photo: Carrie Pratt]
	Jennifer Clem of Largo covers her face in frustration while discussing a shooting that happened early Wednesday morning on her street, Jefferson Avenue. Clem, who has lived in the neighborhood for 13 years with her family, says she wants her kids to be safe. "I'm telling you, pretty soon this neighborhood's going to erupt and the police are going to wish they did something," Clem said. She said that the shooting grew out of an ongoing dispute between some neighbors and a group of young men terrorizing them.

LARGO - Standing outside her home early Wednesday, Jenniffer Clem saw a black Cadillac pull onto Jefferson Avenue.

Then, she said, three armed men got out, flashes of light filling the street as they fired.

Clem, 31, ran inside and escaped uninjured. But a friend, Jason Jones, was shot once in the face.

Jones, whose injury was not considered life-threatening, was listed in fair condition at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg on Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

"The cops better pray to God they do something," Clem said, "because this isn't going to stop."

Clem told the Times that the shooting grew out of an ongoing dispute between neighbors and a group of young men terrorizing them.

Shortly before the shooting, Clem said, a resident had asked the men to drive slower on Jefferson, a side street off Missouri Avenue and Jasper Street.

That request led to a heated argument and the men sped away, Clem said. They returned about 10 minutes later and began firing at Clem's home in the 1700 block of Jefferson.

Largo police, meanwhile, were still trying to sort out what happened and why.

By afternoon, investigators had arrested Elton Sovjani, 28, who they said rode in the Cadillac and carried a shotgun but didn't fire. Charges against him were pending late Wednesday.

Detectives said they had determined the identities of the two men with Sovjani, but had not yet taken them into custody.

Police Sgt. Ed Sohoski said the neighborhood has had its share of problems.

It was unknown how many shots were fired, but witnesses said they heard as many as six "pop" sounds.

Detectives also were trying to determine how a bullet hit a home across the street from Clem's and pierced the window of an 11-year-old girl's bedroom.

The girl was uninjured, and her family declined to discuss the matter Wednesday.

The round that hit the girl's window was fired in the opposite direction from the shots fired at Clem's house.

Clem said she didn't know who shot at her neighbor's home, but said that no one standing outside with her had guns.

[Last modified October 11, 2006, 22:58:34]