TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Police Department (TPD) has arrested the suspect involved in a shooting that left a four-year-old injured with a gunshot wound Tuesday evening.
TPD responded to the report of a shooting that occurred in the 3000 block of N. 50th Street.
Police said a preliminary investigation revealed that 34-year-old James D. Jackson, who was driving a 2013 white Kia Optima, got into a roadway altercation with a female driver in a 2014 white Chevy sedan. The Chevy driver was heading east on Melburne Boulevard when she stopped at a red light to turn south onto 50th Street.
Jackson pulled up next to the Chevy with his passenger window down before firing a gun at the Chevy, striking the four-year-old girl who was a passenger in the rear seat. He then fled the area.
The four-year-old was transported to a nearby hospital, where she is currently in stable condition. The other people in the Chevy, including the driver, who is in her early 30s, a man in his late 20s and an eight-year-old girl, were not injured.
Officers immediately began looking for Jackson, locating the Optima near 56th Street and E. Hillsborough Avenue at approximately 7:42 p.m.
They stopped the vehicle at Spectrum Boulevard and E. Fowler Avenue, arresting Jackson without incident. During the arrest, a gun that had been tossed from the Optima was recovered.
Jackson was taken to Falkenburg Road Jail, police said.
He was charged with the following:
- Attempted murder, great bodily harm (firearm)
- Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (three counts)
- Aggravated battery great bodily harm
- Discharge of a firearm from a vehicle
- Felon in possession of a firearm (two counts)
- Possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony
- Tampering with physical evidence
- Fleeing to elude
- Resisting officer without violence
- Possession of cannabis
- Possession of cannabis with intent to sell/deliver
- Possession of drug paraphernalia
