Man Accused Of Shooting Tampa Police Officer, 4 Others Identified

TAMPA, FL — The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has identified the man arrested in a series of shootings Thursday night including one involving a Tampa Police officer.

At 6:52 p.m., Tampa Police received a 911 call stating that someone was shooting from a moving vehicle on Interstate 275 near West Shore Boulevard. Two people were shot in their vehicle beneath the I-275 underpass. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

Police subsequently received additional calls about a shooter in the area of Reo and Cypress streets.

At 7:28 p.m., the sheriff's office received a call from a resident in the 6300 block of Tapole Lane and Fountain Mist Drive in the Egypt Lake-Leto area who reported seeing shots fired from a vehicle toward teens in a nearby park. The shooter shot at five teens from his vehicle but none were hit.

It was followed a few minutes later by a call from someone reporting a shooting at the intersection of West Sligh Avenue and North Habana Avenue.

Then, at 7:35 p.m., another call came into 911 from a driver who had his tires shot out at North Dale Mabry Highway and Lambright Street. The driver pulled into a CVS parking lot to call 911. The driver was not injured. Shortly after, another driver called to report that his vehicle was struck by a bullet at Lambright Street west of Himes Avenue.

A vehicle carrying two adults and two children, ages 4 and 2, were also the target of the shooter at Sligh Avenue west of Habana Avenue. The two adults, a drive and front-seat passenger, were struck. Their injuries were not life-threatening. The children were not hit.

A few minutes later, a Tampa Police officer attempted a felony stop on a vehicle traveling east on East Hillsborough Avenue. The driver pulled his vehicle onto North 43rd Street, got out and opened fire on the officer.

The 24-year-old officer, who'd been on the job just 11 months, ducked behind the cruiser when the shooting began. He was struck by a bullet in the arm and cut by glass when bullets shattered the front and rear windshields of the police cruiser.

The shooter then ran into the Park Terrace Apartments where law enforcement tracked him to a third-floor landing and took him into custody.

Antonio Cruz Ortiz was booked into the Orient Road Jail on charges of seven counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, four counts of attempted second-degree murder and three counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle.

The officer was taken to Tampa General Hospital where Police Chief Brian Dugan said he is in good spirits and is expected to recover. He was released from the hospital Friday.

“We are thankful that, through coordinated efforts with the Tampa Police Department, we were able to locate this dangerous individual who put so many lives at risk by shooting at random,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “The pain he has caused his victims, including a Tampa Police officer, and his reckless disregard for human life is unacceptable. He will be charged to the fullest extent of the law for his actions.”