Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Gunman takes 3 hostage

Police surround an indoor gun range as a negotiator tries to defuse the situation.

By STEPHANIE HAYES AND MICHAEL A. MOHAMMED
Published April 13, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Related material Update: Hostage: I thought I'd be dead Photos from the scene Jeffrey Lane Dudney

TAMPA - A standoff between deputies and a man holding three hostages inside a gun range brought rush-hour traffic on Dale Mabry Highway to a total halt for hours late Thursday.

Sheriff's deputies, SWAT team sharpshooters and emergency personnel ringed Shooting Sports Inc., an indoor range at 7811 N Dale Mabry Highway. A hostage negotiator carried on what proved to be a long, on-again off-again series of conversations with the man inside.

Vida Morgan, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office, said a call came to the agency from the gun range at 4:45 p.m.

The person told authorities that there were three hostages. It was not clear, she said, whether the caller was one of the three or the gunman himself.

The Sheriff's Office negotiator was in contact with the gunman repeatedly after that, trying to get the man to surrender without harming anyone.

As of 11:30 p.m. the situation remained at an impasse.

Deputies carrying rifles began redirecting traffic away from the scene at the outset, forcing all cars south of Waters Avenue to turn around. They shut down the six-lane highway completely between Waters and Lambright Street.

Kids on bicycles and curious onlookers tried to get closer, but deputies yelled at them to get back.

The scene cast an eerie pall over Dale Mabry Highway, typically packed at rush hour. The road was completely deserted and quiet, the only sounds coming from helicopters flying overhead.

Four Hillsborough Community College students who came to nearby Tampa Lanes to bowl about 4 p.m. were stuck inside when deputies told them they couldn't leave.

"We're waiting for the situation to escalate," said Daniel Chang, 18, of Citrus Park. "Nothing exciting ever happens in Tampa."

They left about 10:45 p.m.

About 10 people were at the Buccaneer Octopus Car Wash, 8101 N Dale Mabry Highway, at 5:30 p.m. They watched the shooting range and chatted with friends and family members on cell phones.

"That was my ex-wife in New Tampa," said Eric Lewis, the car wash's manager, as he hung up his phone. "She said 'I know where you work. What the hell is going on?' "

Ramon Otakan, a server at Sukhothai Restaurant, 8201 N Dale Mabry Highway, said the quiet was spooky. There weren't any customers but the restaurant planned to stay open.

"We're just waiting to see what happens next," Otakan said.

The situation was the same at the nearby House Cycle World, where general manager Willie Allison kept an eye on the deputies outside.

"Nobody's told me anything yet that isn't just hearsay," Allison said. "But I can tell you they're armed to the teeth out there."

Allison remained holed up at the shop for hours, after SWAT officers descended on his place at 4:30 p.m. He said he hit the deck when SWAT teams arrived at his business.

"I was in the Army for a while. I know damn well not to stand up in those situations," he said.

At 10:30 p.m., agents were still hiding behind a Dumpster and on the roof. He couldn't leave the shop or bring in the dozen or so motorcycles parked outside.

"What can I do?" he asked. "I'll be trapped all night."

Eddie Hou, 23, who works at Tampa Lanes bowling alley, said he had been in the shooting range before. The business rents guns and allows patrons to bring their own weapons and shoot for a fee.

"You can get pretty much anything you can think of," he said. "It's like a Wal-Mart gun store."

The range has been the scene of violence before.

In June 2002, a man died of a gunshot wound to the head in the range. And in the fall of 2001, a 45-year-old woman who had reportedly been drinking shot herself while target shooting with a rented Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol.

Also, the Tampa Tribune reported in May 2001 that Juan Miranda, 34, of St. Petersburg killed himself with a gun rented at the range in what was believed to be a suicide.

In 1998, an out-of uniform Tampa police officer practicing at the range spent 45 minutes talking a 28-year-old man who was threatening suicide into putting down his gun.

At the motorcycle shop, Allison said he planned to stay inside until authorities told him it was safe to leave.

"I've got two walls between me and the shooting," he said.

Staff writers Carrie Weimar, Casey Cora and Amanda Palleschi and researcher John Martin contributed to this report.

[Last modified April 13, 2007, 01:05:14]