Advertisement

Gibsonton man found dead after being shot inside his home

 
No suspects have yet been named in the killing of Andrew Edie.
No suspects have yet been named in the killing of Andrew Edie.
Published July 18, 2014

GIBSONTON — Shortly after he answered a late-night knock on his door, Andrew Edie was shot inside his RV on a dead-end street in Gibsonton.

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies who answered a 911 call about 11:20 p.m. Wednesday found Edie, 48, with at least one gunshot wound, and paramedics soon declared him dead at the scene.

Investigators said Thursday that the killing was drug-related. Along Inglewood Drive, where Edie lived in the RV beneath an enormous corrugated metal roof garage, some neighbors consider his house a problem spot. Others know it as the place where kids on the block got their bike tires filled.

Edie's friend Terry Zaorski drove over as soon as she saw the RV on the news. She opened the door to the truck she rode in before it stopped. Her eyebrows and open mouth said she knew the answer to her question before she asked.

"Was it Drew?" Zaorski said as she walked near the police tape with her hand over her mouth.

Zaorski said she'd last seen Edie a week ago. He'd just earned his commercial driver's license and recently became a grandfather, she said.

"He would do anything for anybody," said Zaorski, 51, of Riverview. "This is just senseless."

Angela Racine, who lives a few houses down, said Edie worked on cars from the garage behind his home. He had a big air compressor, so all the kids around the neighborhood would tote their bikes to his place to fill their tires.

Sheriff's spokesman Larry McKinnon would not comment on why investigators believe the killing is drug-related. But he did say that over the years they've received many calls about the house for a range of reasons.

No suspects were named Thursday, but deputies interviewed a woman who was inside the RV when Edie was killed.

Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Weston Phippen can be reached at wphippen@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8321. Follow @westonphippen.