2 Killed, 18 Wounded In Halloween Weekend Shooting: Tampa Police

TAMPA, FL — Halloween festivities turned deadly early Sunday when gunshots rang out in Tampa’s 7th Avenue corridor, killing two people and injuring 18, authorities said.

The incident occurred around 2:45 a.m. in the 1600 block of East 7th Avenue after an altercation between two groups escalated to gunfire, according to police. One male died at the scene and 19 people were taken to hospitals, where a second male died, police said.

A person was detained for questioning and police are reviewing surveillance from local businesses, according to authorities, who said there were at least two shooters.

“Our thoughts are with the victims impacted by this senseless act and our detectives are committed to holding those involved accountable,” Chief Lee Bercaw said in a police department news release.

Police have not released the names of those killed, but Emmitt Wilson said his 14-year-old son, Elijah, was one of the fatalities. Wilson came to the scene Sunday after getting a call that his son was a victim.

"It's madness to me. I don't even feel like I'm here right now," Wilson said. "I hope the investigators do their job and find out who killed my son."

The fight occurred in an area with several bars and clubs, and there were large numbers of late night revelers in the area at the time, Bercaw said.

Tampa police spokeswoman Jonee Lewis said "hundreds" of people were out on the streets as numerous nightspots closed early Sunday. Video posted online shows people, many in Halloween costumes, drinking and talking on the street when about a dozen shots ring out followed seconds later by about eight more, creating a stampede. Some people topple over metal tables and take cover behind them. Video from the aftermath shows police officers treating several people lying wounded on the ground.

“The Tampa Police Department had 50 officers deployed in the area at the time, so this is not a law enforcement issue,” Mayor Jane Castor, a former city police chief, said in a statement. “Bad decisions made in a split second and the proliferation of readily available guns are responsible for these almost daily incidents.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 813-231-6130 or contact Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1-800-873-8477.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.