Seminole Shooting
SEMINOLE - An 18 year old young man who goes by the name Possum was driving his friends home from a Kritkal Resistance concert when some yellow tape caught his and his brother’s eyes near Park Blvd. and 131st Street. He parked the car and attempted to investigate what was going on. It was usually a quiet neighborhood, so when half a city block is covered with police cars and surrounded by yellow tape, it’s a big deal.
I arrived on scene with my brother, armed with a camera. The first thing we did was try to find out what was going on. Who better to ask than the news? After calling Bay News 9 and receiving voice mail, I contacted ABC Action News. They were unaware of the situation and sent a reporter out.
Before the reporter arrived, my brother and I tried to take some pictures. The crime scene was littered with officers and cars and there was a red, two-door car crashed into a wall of the building. Before we managed to get the first shot, we heard one of the sheriffs saying “Hey, those guys have a camera!” One of them addressed us and yelled “Keep walking guys.” As we began to protest, he interrupted us firmly repeating himself: “Just keep walking.” (We later learned it was because of the undercover officers that we were told to leave.) As we walked away I noticed I could clearly make out a dead body in the driver seat of the car.
We walked around the corner where we could still see some of the scene. We knew it would be unwise to brandish the camera again. Shortly after, a freelance photographer from Clearwater showed up. He also was not able to get much information while we were there, but Sheriff Jim Coats himself was there, so the reporter said it was something major. We followed the photographer until an officer took our information and requested that we stay away from the scene. Interestingly enough, there was a line on the Active Calls section of the Sheriff’s website, case number 07-002922, at 02:35:46 on “131ST AND PARK BLVD”, about the time we were trying to take pictures. The description was listed only as “Information.” I just hope they don’t try to charge us with “obstructing justice” for trying to take pictures.
Anyway, the only information I have confirmed is that there was police gunfire on the scene. Speculation includes a bank robbery (there was a Wachovia in the crime scene) or a drug deal. It should be on tomorrow’s news (I suppose I’m the first “media outlet” to report anything), whatever happened. I will provide a link when I get more information.
So, I contributed to the media, witnessed a dead body, learned a bit about reporting, and got yelled at by the cops a few times. I’m ready to go to sleep.
UPDATE 05:04 AM - ABC Action News and other news sites are now reporting on the investigation. Allegedly, the shooting occurred about 01:15 AM when an officer encountered four burglary suspects. The driver allegedly tried to run him over and he opened fire, killing the driver. The other three suspects fled but were soon apprehended. Here is the story according to Bay News 9.
7 Responses to “Seminole Shooting”
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January 4th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Possum: Annoying the police since 1988.
UsingJanuary 4th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
Bay News 9 now has a more complete story here.
UsingJanuary 5th, 2007 at 1:14 am
I’ve had some questions about names, and yes they finally released names of the adults involved. The suspect who was killed was named Brian Dorry (19) and the female passenger was named Samantha Gerke (18). Two juveniles, aged 16 (released with no charges) and 17 (the driver’s brother) were also involved and arrested. The officer who shot was identified to the media as Sergent Dan Carron, a veteran, though from what I heard, I’m not sure the officer is correctly identified. It is too early for me to safely elaborate on what I heard.
Links are from previous arrests.
UsingJanuary 5th, 2007 at 7:20 am
Your story is in today’s paper, section B.
Also, when you said, “I could clearly make out a dead body in the driver seat of the car” did you see the bullet wound? Cause the paper said that Dorry got shot in the head.
I’m sorry to bring up an disturbing image, but I’m curious.
UsingJanuary 5th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
@Mary
Yes, it’s been all over the news since about 5-10 minutes after I posted this (see below: This entry was posted on Thursday, January 4th, 2007 at 4:53 am). It only made the B section of the newspaper because it wasn’t breaking news at the time.
And no, I did not see the bullet wound, the body was slumped over with one arm out of the car (wish I had gotten a picture, in retrospect), his head facing the wall of the building. So I saw the back of the head. It was too far away for me to make out any blood.
UsingJanuary 5th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Quite = Quiet
UsingHere’s your comment.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
I *swear* I saw this guy a couple months ago. I was sitting in my car at a red light between Starkey/Park and 71st/Park when a guy in a red sports car next to me gets out of his car, opens his trunk, changes shirts, puts on a pair of rubber gloves, and gets back in his car, speeding off as the light had turned green by that time.
I think that was also about the same time the big flashing ‘LOCK YOUR DOORS!!!’ sign was put at the corner of Park/Seminole.
Very strange >.>
Also, the first press releases had the names of the two younger kids. This story still has the names, though the age of ‘Samantha’ is wrong.
Using