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Man arrested in shooting
By CASEY CORA
Published January 19, 2007
Police have arrested a man in connection with a Jan. 9 gunfight that erupted in the parking lot of a St. Petersburg Wal-Mart Supercenter. Joseph Williams, 21, of St. Petersburg was charged with three counts of attempted murder, violation of a domestic violence injunction and firearm possession, according to jail records. St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt said the dispute may have stemmed from an incident inside the store when Williams and another man bumped into each other. The two men had been feuding for years, Proffitt said. After leaving the store, Williams waited in the parking lot with a gun. He approached the other man - whom police did not name because he is a witness in an ongoing investigation - and fired several shots, police said. The group the other man was with fired back at Williams, hitting Williams in the left big toe, police said. No bystanders were injured, but six vehicles were struck by bullets. Williams has a lengthy criminal record. He was arrested as a juvenile on charges of burglary, vehicle theft and sexual assault, according to a report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As an adult, he also faced charges of resisting an officer and fleeing and eluding, the report said. After being cleared from surgery at a local hospital, Williams will be booked into the Pinellas County Jail. Times staff writer Abhi Raghunathan contributed to this report. Casey Cora can be reached at 727 580-1542 or at ccora@sptimes.com.
[Last modified January 19, 2007, 00:52:53]
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by John
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01/19/07 01:34 PM
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Nice to know folks are going to this Wal-Mart armed. I'm sure they are at other locations as well, but no ones been shot at the Pinellas Park location yet. I wonder why businesses are slow to move to this area? High crime on your watch mayor baker?
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by mary
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01/19/07 11:39 AM
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stop putting criminals in jails.Buy an
island,parcel of land and set up a "city".Then let the criminals run their own "city".Think of it as justice delivered by criminals to each other.
No elec.chair,no injections,just let
the mutants work it out.
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by John
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01/19/07 07:00 AM
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With this kind of arrest record the juvenile system is not working.This thug should still be in prison for the sexual assault charges.The system locks up drug dealers for life but let rapist and child molesters go free.The judges and rapist are??????
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News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
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