Teen boy arrested in Tampa shooting that critically injured 17-year-old girl

TAMPA — Police on Tuesday arrested a 16-year-old boy in connection with a shooting in Tampa’s Sun Bay South neighborhood last week that left a 17-year-old girl injured.

The boy confessed to shooting the girl in the 6200 block of S Manhattan Avenue about 8:40 a.m. Friday, according to a news release from the Tampa Police Department. Police did not release the name of the 17-year-old girl. Tampa Police Chief Mary O’Connor said in a news conference Wednesday that the girl is expected to live. No one else was injured.

According to police, officers were called to the Sun Bay South neighborhood after two teen girls got into a planned fight. After the fight, the teen boy, who was wearing a ski mask, shot at one of the girls, hitting her in the back, police said.

The shooter is related to the other girl who was involved in the fight, police said. The two girls were fighting over the boy buying marijuana from the 17-year-old girl with a counterfeit $100 bill, witnesses from the scene told police. The day before the shooting, the girl and a friend confronted the boy over the counterfeit money and got into a fight with him, police said.

The boy’s teenage relative asked the 17-year-old girl to meet her at their apartment complex the next day to fight, according to police. After the fight, the boy opened fire.

“These children … are making these bad decisions and cannot take these decisions back,” O’Connor said.

Police found a 9mm shell casing at the scene, the release said. Detectives searched the boy’s home with permission from his mother and found a 9mm semi-automatic handgun that was a ballistic match to the shell casing found at the scene, O’Connor said.

In an interview with police Tuesday night, the boy confessed to the shooting, police said. He was arrested and booked into the Juvenile Assessment Center on Tuesday, the release said.

The boy is facing charges of second-degree attempted murder with a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery with great bodily harm.