HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) responded to a 'multi-agency' shooting in connection to a robbery investigation Tuesday. According to Sheriff Chad Chronister, a man was shot and killed by two task force officers after charging them with a gun.
The investigation stems from a robbery at a Save A Lot on W. Fletcher Avenue in Tampa early Monday morning.
U.S. Marshals Service Task Force received information leading them to 30-year-old Pedro Gamez, a suspect in the robbery, at a Carrollwood home.
Task force officers responded and encountered 24-year-old Rico Dyches and a woman leaving the home. While attempting to stop their vehicle, Dyches rammed the officers' vehicles before being stopped. He was taken into custody on active warrants out of Polk County.
Both, Dyches and the woman were questioned and revealed Gamez was inside the home, police said.
Gamez exited the home and was taken into custody. Chronister said Gamez informed officers no one else was at the residence while officers went inside to clear the scene room-by-room.
The two task force officers, a Tampa Police Officer and a Pinellas County Sheriff's Deputy, encountered a man on the second floor. HCSO said the man was brandishing a gun and running towards the officers.
Both officers fired multiple shots and struck the man. He was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital-North where he succumbed to his injuries.
"They transported him out in an ambulance and we overheard somebody say, 'we don't think he was going to make it,'" neighbor Mike Kroll said.
The man killed has been identified as 26-year-old Victor Gamez. Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is conducting an investigation into the shooting.
Pedro Gamez is charged with the following:
- Aggravated Assault on Law enforcement Office with Deadly Weapon, X2
- Tampering with Physical Evidence
- Felon in Possession of a Firearm
- Grand Theft Motor Vehicle
- Robbery with a Firearm, X2
Authorities said he was also arrested on several out-of-county warrants.
