UPDATE Hail of gunfire kills 8-year-old St. Petersburg girl in home

[Hazcat]

By Demorris A. Lee
Posted: Apr 05, 2009 02:10 PM



It is the kind of crime you usually hear about in the major metropolitan cities.

In the middle of the night, someone drives by a small house and pumps bullets out of a semi automatic rifle, barely releasing the trigger.

After the storm of bullets, the car speeds off and when the smoke settles, an innocent bystander is killed.

And it's a child.

Early Sunday morning that scene played out on Preston Avenue South in Bartlett Park,

Sunday morning, it was 8-year-old Paris Whitehead-Hamilton was killed.

But for residents in one of the city's poorest communities, murder has become all too common.

"This is the second murder this year and it's just April," said Twynette Green, 37. "For this little neighborhood, that's two to many. And it's on the same street."

In 2006, Green's neighbor Jacqueline Johnson was killed by a longtime friend when she was stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver after an argument.

Last September, Mandy M. Sampson was shot and killed by robbers. She was found in an alley just off Preston Avenue, Green said. Sampson was 27 years old and a mother of two

In January, 15-year-old Malayshia Kierra Gamble's body was found in a vacant lot on Preston Avenue. She had been shot in the head. There's a makeshift memorial at the spot with wooden crosses, stuffed animals and a dying potted palm tree.'

And now Paris..

"That innocent child," said Preston Avenue resident Jacquelyn Fleming, 52.

She was asleep in the front room at 771 Preston Avenue S. At about 2:20 a.m, someone unloaded about 50 bullets in the front of the house with a semiautomatic rifle, according to St. Petersburg police. There were nine people in the home, police said.

One of those bullets hit Paris in the upper body. She died at Bayfront Medical Center.

"We are outraged and incensed," said Chief Chuck Harmon of St. Petersburg police. "We are going to do what we can to get the people responsible for this and make sure they end up behind bars."

Harmon said the shooting was an act of retaliation between several teens and young adults who were at the house and another group. He said police had some good ideas about what happened "and we are talking to some people who are specifically involved."

"I am optimistic that we will bring closure to this case in the next few days or hours," Harmon said.

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker said the shooters will be caught.

"We are going to very aggressively go after the folks that were responsible for this and we'll seek the most severe penalties," Baker said. "And we're going to get them."

Residents along the street said that there had been an altercation between several young men who lived at the Preston Avenue house and a community called Bethel Heights. On Wednesday, shots were fired in the air along Preston Avenue but it was during the day.

Paris was living at the house with her aunt Shenita Joseph, 42. The girl's mother, Robin D. Whitehead, died in 2006 from injuries she sustained in a fall. She was 37.

Neighbors said Paris' father, Robert. E. Hamilton was in the military.

"It's shocking to see that baby get hurt," said Green, a 6-year resident of the street and whose 2 year-old grandchild was in the house when the shooting occurred. "At first, we thought it was fire crackers, but then it just locked in and all we heard was shooting.

Paris would ride her pink and purple bicycle up and down Preston Avenue. On today, she was supposed to go fishing with a "God uncle", a neighbor said.

"She was a nice, friendly little girl," said Fleming, 52, who lives a house up from the shooting. "She would always stop and talk to you. She was a sweet-hearted little girl."

Fleming said when she first moved to the Preston Avenue Street in the Bartlett Park community 10 years ago, she used to call the area an "old folks home."

"It was so quiet on this street," Fleming said. "But now, I don't know."

"It's scary to go out the door," said Coretta Matthews, 30, who lives on Preston Avenue. "I want to move from this road. I might be the fifth one. You just never know."

Sunday morning, yellow crime scene tape once again stretched along the street. In front of the ranch style house that was assaulted with early morning bullets was a small plastic tricycle with purple wheels, yellow handle bars and a red seat.

By late afternoon, much of the crime tape was gone and folks returned to their front porch chairs, watching and waving at passer Byers. On a vacant lot across from the house with the bullet holes, a group of children chased one another in play.

Staff writer Mike Brassfield contributed to this article.

Demorris A. Lee can be reached at 445-4174 or dale@sptimes.com

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article989862.ece

And that folks, is how the MSM is ginning up gun control support, one story at a time!  This is South St Petersburg which is a GHETTO run by the Uluru's (black racist group).

[Steyr M40A1]

Not new news for sure.
Just read the article for the Pittsburgh shooting.
This is down right awful. There is no reason for this kind of violence. But what pissed me off the most is how the article points out the person to be a gun loving nut who hates Obama. I am surpriseed the author did not point out that the person also hates cats, has outstanding library books, and forgets to rewind his rented videos.

Not new but the spin the media puts on news it reports is wrong. But it has always been and will most likely always be this way.

Gunman kills 3 Pittsburgh officers in shootout
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090405/ap_on_re_us/pittsburgh_shooting

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI and DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press Writers Ramit Plushnick-masti And Dan Nephin, Associated Press Writers 53 mins ago
PITTSBURGH – A gunman wearing a bulletproof vest and armed with an assault rifle held police at bay for hours as their fallen officers were left bleeding nearby, their colleagues unable to reach them.
When it was over four hours later, three officers were dead and more than 100 rounds had been fired by SWAT teams and the gunman on the quiet Pittsburgh street, police said.
Saturday's slayings occurred just two weeks after four police officers were fatally shot in Oakland, Calif., in the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001.
"This is a solemn day and it's a very sad day in the city of Pittsburgh," Police Chief Nate Harper said. "We've seen this kind of violence happen in California. We never would think this kind of violence would happen in the city of Pittsburgh."
Richard Poplawski, 23, was charged with three counts of homicide, aggravated assault and a weapons violation. He had gunshot wounds in his legs but was otherwise unharmed because he was wearing a bulletproof vest, Harper said.
Poplawski opened fire on two officers responding to a 7 a.m. domestic violence call from Poplawski's mother, police said. Officers Paul Sciullo III, 37, and Stephen Mayhle, 29, were fatally shot in the head.
"It appears he was lying in wait for the officers," Harper said.
Eric Kelly, 41, a 14-year veteran of the force on his way home after completing his overnight shift heard the call for help and rushed to the scene. He also was shot and killed.
SWAT teams and other officers arrived and were also fired upon.
Don Sand, who lives across the street from Poplawski, said he was woken up by the sound of gunfire. Hunkering down behind a wall in his home, he saw the first two officers go down and then saw Kelly get shot.
"They couldn't get the scene secure enough to get to them. They were just lying there bleeding," Sand said. "By the time they secured the scene enough to get to them it was way too late."
Deputy Chief Paul Donaldson, who lives nearby, was one of the first officers to arrive. He saw Mayhle by a bush to the right of the door; Kelly was in the street.
Another officer, Timothy McManaway, who had been shot in the hand, was kneeling beside him, yelling that Kelly needed help.
Donaldson suggested using a police van to get them. They draped a bulletproof vest on the window to protect the driver and several officers got into the van to get Kelly and McManaway.
During this time, Poplawski was somehow distracted, Donaldson said.
"We were fortunate that he didn't fire on us. I don't know why he was distracted, but he apparently didn't see us coming down to get them," he said. "It could have been worse."
Poplawski had feared "the Obama gun ban that's on the way" and "didn't like our rights being infringed upon," said Edward Perkovic, his best friend.
Perkovic, 22, said he got a call at work from him in which he said, "Eddie, I am going to die today. ... Tell your family I love them and I love you."
Perkovic said: "I heard gunshots and he hung up. ... He sounded like he was in pain, like he got shot."
Poplawski had once tried to join the Marines, but was kicked out of boot camp after throwing a food tray at a drill sergeant, Perkovic said.
Another longtime friend, Aaron Vire, said Poplawski feared that President Barack Obama was going to take away his rights, though he said he "wasn't violently against Obama."
Vire, 23, said Poplawski once had an Internet talk show but that it wasn't successful. He said Poplawski owned an AK-47 rifle and several powerful handguns, including a .357 Magnum.
Obama has said he respects Americans' constitutional right to bear arms, but that he favors "common sense" gun laws. Gun rights advocates interpret that as meaning he would approve some curbs on assault and concealed weapons.
Poplawski had been laid off from his job at a glass factory earlier this year, said another friend, Joe DiMarco. DiMarco said he didn't know the name of the company, but knew his friend had been upset about it. 

[tombogan03884]

  Burglary, rape, and robbery are "random" crimes, a drive by is not. I'll bet money that this was gang related.

[runstowin]

I bet most of the young males involved in this crime have no father in the home.

[PegLeg45]

I bet most of the young males involved in this crime have no father in the home.

And a mother that is there only half the time too.

[Sponsor]

[Hazcat]

Video here

http://www.tampabay.com/video/?v=18724506001

Story here

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article990024.ece