Mayor to Florida killer: ‘We will hunt this son of a b**** down’
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – They are many people from all walks of life – residents who live in the Seminole Heights community of Tampa. They walked in separately, but tonight they were one.
One community, One family, standing shoulder to shoulder.
It was standing room only Monday night.
Many residents are in fear. Many are heartbroken, and many were ready to ask questions.
They are moms, dad, sisters, brothers, relatives, teachers and loved ones. They know that a possible serial killer is walking among them, on their streets. They are ready to take back the power from a killer.
Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Tampa Interim Police Chief Brian Dugan were fielding so many phone calls from the community, so many questions, they decided together as one to meet neighbors once again face-to-face, to hear concerns and address fears.
Mayor Buckhorn opened the meeting by saying, “We will not let evil win this. We will not be held hostage. This is our house. Evil will not win. Not now, not ever!”
“We need to stick together,” Buckhorn said. “We’re got to be together on this. Voices are going to get louder. Period.”
This community has been on edge ever since the unthinkable happened.
Three people were gunned down in just ten days, less than a mile apart.
“We don’t know if this is the work of a serial killer,” Chief Dugan has said. “We don’t know if it’s one person or many. We will find this person doing this, and we will prosecute them.”
“There is a very good likelihood that someone in this room knows who is doing this,” he said.
“Say a prayer and say ‘thank you’ for these officers and these families,” said Buckhorn.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, St. Petersburg Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are now involved in the case.