Wounded Man Said To Be With Bloods
TAMPA – A shooting Tuesday at Lakeland Square mall — which left one man wounded, another arrested and patrons scrambling for cover from .25-caliber bullets — was the result of a gang battle between the Crips and the Bloods, police said.
The trouble broke out shortly before 3 p.m., according to an affidavit that describes the shooting as an escalation of trash talk and gesturing between members of the two gangs.
Lakeland police say they interviewed more than 30 witnesses, who told similar versions of the events.
It all started outside the No Fear store.
A member of the Crips gang, Ariel A. Scott, 18, was walking with another man and two women who have yet to be identified, according to an affidavit that describes the police version of what happened next.
Scott and the Crips were approached by Andre Maurice Warner, 18, of Frostproof – a member of the Bloods – and two other men, the affidavit said.
The two historically rival groups exchanged gang-related trash talk. That led to dueling gang gestures, suggesting an ensuing fight.
Scott pulled a silver handgun out of the waistband of his pants and fired several shots, the affidavit said.
Warner was hit once in the chest. Scott kept firing, nearly hitting several patrons eating inside the Piccadilly Cafeteria, police said. Scott then ran out of the mall through the west door, authorities said. He was picked up by his two female companions.
Investigators eventually developed a tip that led them to an apartment at 5475 Wilmington Circle, where Scott was found in a back room. Police were given consent to search the apartment and found a .25-caliber handgun resembling the one used to shoot Warner, police said.
Scott was arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, shooting within a public building and carrying a concealed firearm.
There are 100 documented gang members in Lakeland, said police Detective Dan Jonas. Polk County has about 3,200 gang members, Polk sheriff’s Sgt. Tommy Dixon said.
In comparison, Hillsborough County has at least 2,550 gang members and 115 gangs, Hillsborough sheriff’s Sgt. Ken Davis said.
By HOWARD ALTMAN, The Tampa Tribune and JENNIFER LEIGH, News Channel 8. Reporter Ray Reyes contributed to this report.
