Man arrested in Tampa shooting that killed 2
TAMPA — Police arrested a man early Saturday in connection to a Friday morning shooting that left two people dead outside an Ybor Heights area convenience store.
An all-night manhunt ended when police found Whitney Newsome, 37, near East 25th Avenue and North 33rd Street in east Tampa, less than 2 miles from the shooting scene. He was booked a little before 9 a.m. in the Orient Road Jail, records show.
The shooting happened about 10:30 a.m. Friday near Kings Plaza, at the corner of North Nebraska Avenue and East 26th Avenue. Officers received an alert through ShotSpotter, a gunfire detection system the city uses, and arrived to find a man and a woman who’d been shot near a coffee shop. Both died. A third person told officers she’d been shot at but was not hit, police said.
In a news release Saturday, police gave a short account of what they believe occurred. They said Newsome got into an argument with a woman, described as being in her late 20s. During the argument, a man in his 40s tried to intervene. The conflict continued as the group moved down East 26th Avenue.
Newsome drew a handgun and shot the woman, police said. She tried to run before collapsing in front of a convenience store. The man and another woman who was with the group tried to run. Newsome shot at both of them, hitting the man, police said. Newsome then reportedly ran off.
Officers found the handgun discarded nearby.
No other information, including details of the argument and the names of the people involved, was immediately released. Police said Newsome would face two counts of murder, among other charges.
