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Downtown 'urban pioneer' shot

Andrew Baris was on his front porch early Tuesday when a bullet comes out of the darkness. No one is arrested.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published November 8, 2006

Andrew Baris, in a bed at Tampa General Hospital, was shot at the Arlington Condominimums in downtown Tampa early Tuesday. He was on the balcony of his family's two-story condo on Franklin Street when someone fired a single shot from the street.
	[Times photo: Melissa Lyttle]

TAMPA - Shelly and Cliff Baris moved from their gated Harbour Island home into their new downtown condominium two weeks ago. They felt like pioneers, paving the way for Tampa's revitalization.

Being trailblazers hasn't been easy. The first week, they found homeless people camping on their rooftop patio.

But that's nothing compared with Tuesday, when their 18-year-old son, Andrew H. Baris, was shot on the family's porch at the Arlington condos, 1229 N Franklin St.

"This is our home, our new home," said Mrs. Baris, a nurse, as she paced in her son's room at Tampa General Hospital. "Two weeks later, our son is shot on our balcony, our front porch."

The shooting happened at 2:20 a.m., police say. Andrew Baris and a neighbor were sitting in rocking chairs on the second-story porch. They heard a man talking loudly on a cell phone, Baris said.

The man, stocky, in his early 20s with short blonde hair, annoyed Baris and his friend, who yelled, "Hey, keep it down," Baris recalled.

The man cursed at them and kept talking. It sounded like he was giving directions to the Fly bar across the street, Baris said.

Then, the man left. A few minutes later, Baris heard a loud bang, a gunshot. He looked down and saw blood.

His friend called police and woke Baris' parents. They followed the ambulance to the hospital, where they learned their son had a fractured pelvis and bullet fragments embedded in his side.

Police were still searching for the suspect.

A random shooting is not the sort of publicity developers wanted for this redeveloping area, which also is home to the new Residences of Franklin Street, a 40-unit condo project.

"It's an emerging neighborhood, and I think that negative press is not good," said Russ Versaggi, a developer on the Arlington project.

Recent media reports of a chill in the local real estate market is problem enough, he said.

"If (buyers) think people are going to be shot, that's just more fuel to the fire," he said.

But Arlington architect Stephanie Ferrell said the shooting does not mean Franklin Street is dangerous.

"I still think it's a great neighborhood," she said. "Those random shootings sometimes are thoughtless, and they could happen anywhere. It's become a really nice place to be, very pleasant."

Baris' mother agrees.

"We hope it doesn't spoil it because we think the town's great," Mrs. Baris said.

Researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.

[Last modified November 8, 2006, 01:42:03]