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Police recover gun they say was fired after fatal Tarpon Springs officer shooting

 
Published Dec. 24, 2014

TARPON SPRINGS — Authorities have located the 9mm handgun used in the second shooting that transpired early Sunday morning after a Tarpon Springs police officer was fatally gunned down, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Detectives served a second search warrant Wednesday at the Glen's Eureka Apartments at 199 Grand Blvd. for apartment No. 5, where 24-year-old Jareem Roach lives. The gun was found in the attic.

Roach was arrested Monday night in New Port Richey on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and failing to appear in court on a Hillsborough driving charge.

Sheriff's deputies believe Roach used the handgun to shoot at Marco Antonio Parilla, Jr., 23, just after 2 a.m. Sunday morning as he fled the apartment complex. Parilla, deputies say, was at the complex looking for a friend he said "dimed him out," leading to a drug-related probation violation.

Parilla didn't find who he was looking for, but instead exchanged gunfire with veteran Tarpon Springs Police Officer Charles Kondek, who had responded to noise complaint. A bullet from Parilla's gun struck Kondek above his bulletproof vest, killing him, authorities said.

As Parilla fled the scene in a white Hyundai Elantra, Roach, who reportedly thought Parilla had come looking for him, shot at the car several times, authorities said.

Minutes later, Parilla was arrested after a brief pursuit that ended when he hit a utility pole and then a parked truck in the Sponge Docks district.

Parilla is facing a charge of first-degree murder.