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Letter to the editor

Argument ends in fatal shots

Police say the victim had an ongoing dispute with a suspect, who remains at large.

By JACOB H. FRIES, Times Staff Writer
Published November 4, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Detectives were searching Saturday for the gunman they say shot and killed a 60-year-old man during an argument on Friday night.

Investigators said they think they know the man's identity but would not release his name on Saturday. They believe the shooter lived in the same building as Clenton McKinney, at 142 Fifth Ave N, and had an ongoing dispute with him.

"There are still a lot of questions we need to answer," said Sgt. Mike Kovacsev, the head of the department's homicide unit. "We don't know what the core of the dispute was, but it came to a head last night."

Police found McKinney about 9:30 p.m. Friday, dead of multiple gunshot wounds, lying in a second-floor hallway outside the apartment he shared with his brother, Theodore McKinney, 56.

The younger McKinney apparently tried to shoot his brother's attacker butended up shooting his own foot. He was recovering at Bayfront Medical Center.

In all, more than a half-dozen shots were fired, Kovacsev said. Afterward, the shooter left on foot.

McKinney's death was the city's 25th homicide of the year. There were 21 murders in all of last year.

Jacob H. Fries can be reached at jfries@sptimes.com or 727893-8872.

[Last modified November 4, 2007, 00:08:58]