The Tampa Police Department imploring community members to come forward after a 7-year-old boy was fatally shot on Tuesday when gunfire broke out in a jet ski dispute.
Officers responded to a shooting just after 8:30 p.m. at a boat ramp off the the Courtney Campbell Causeway west of Ben T. Davis Beach, Calvin Johnson, deputy chief of investigations, said at a Wednesday press conference.
Witnesses told police that a dispute broke out because one group of people were upset that another group were riding their jet skis close to shore where children were playing.
One group got out of the water, according to Johnson, and the argument escalated until someone opened fire.
“When the shooting began the grandfather of the young man who was shot grabbed him and pulled him into the truck when he heard the gunfire going on,” Johnson said. “When they were inside the vehicle, a round went inside the vehicle, hit the grandfather in the finger and the young man in the head.”
The child was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was identified as Yitzian Torres Garcia by his grandparents in an interview with NBC affiliate WFLA.
Yitzian’s grandfather, Juan Carlos Mejia, told WFLA that he was trying to shield the boy and placed his hands over his grandson’s head inside the truck.
“When I felt the gunshot in my hand, I turned to look at my grandson and his head turned,” Mejia said.
Yitzian was visiting his grandparents from New Jersey and was planning to watch the July 4 fireworks on the beach. His grandmother, Marisol Ayala, said that this type of violence is “not supposed to happen for babies.
The family is begging whoever shot Yitzian to turn himself in.
“He didn’t kill an animal, he killed a human being, a baby starting to live that had nothing to do with his fights, with guns or nothing, we’re suffering, we lost a life,” Ayala said.
Witnesses described the scene as two groups of Hispanic males shooting at each other, police said.
The suspects fled the beach and homicide detectives are working to determine their identities, Johnson said. But the department is urging anyone with knowledge of the shooting to contact police directly or submit an anonymous tip to the Crimestoppers hotline at at 800-873-8477.
Johnson told reporters Wednesday that he was “very angry” at the recklessness of those who know the damage created by gun violence, but shoot “indiscriminately.”
“We need to do better as a community. Really, as Americans,” Johnson said. “We see everybody around the nation, including Tampa, the first thing they jump to is firearms. There is a better way to deal with anything you may be going through, other than going to that firearm.”
“Once someone is gone they’re not coming back,” he added.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
