TAMPA, Florida — In newly released court documents, accused shooter Tyrell Phillips reveals what led him to fire his gun over the weekend in the crowded streets of Ybor City.
Dozens of Tampa police officers responded just after 2:45 a.m. to East 7th Avenue near North 17th Street after they were alerted about numerous rounds of gunfire.
Officers arrived to find multiple people suffering from gunshot wounds, including a 14-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man who were later pronounced dead.
When the homicide detective arrived on scene, they were notified that 22-year-old Tyrell Phillips had voluntarily turned himself in. Phillips had a Glock 29 10mm semi-automatic firearm in his waistband with 11 rounds in it, according to the criminal affidavit.
After he was detained, Phillips reportedly told detectives he was with a group of friends when she saw a woman he recognized as someone he had gone to middle school with. As he was waving at the woman, Phillips said he was approached by a group of six people in an "aggressive manner."
Phillips reported that one of the people in the group took a "fighting stance" toward him, another spit at him and a third person motioned toward his waistband as if he was reaching for a gun, the affidavit says. He added that he couldn't hear what was being said because it was so loud.
Phillips told the detective that's when he reached into his own waistband, grabbed his gun and fired it, not toward a particular person but in the general direction of the group. He then ran north away from the scene and reported hearing additional gunfire behind him.
When shown a video of the incident, Phillips identified himself and the victim who was shot and killed as the person who spit on him during the altercation.
The affidavit says that the victim had a concealed firearm in his waistband that was never pulled out during the argument. Phillips also confirmed he was not aware of the gun.
"When specifically asked by TPD detectives if the victim was the one who the defendant [Phillips] saw reaching for a weapon at his waistline, the defendant [Phillips] again clarified that the victim never reached for his waistband and/or for a weapon," a motion for pretrial detention reads.
According to the motion, the victim was found to have a gunshot wound to the leg and neck, which appeared to have struck his spinal cord.
The motion, submitted by State Attorney Susie Lopez, says Phillips is a "threat to the community" and asks that he be detained pre-trial due to the circumstances of the crime indicating a "disregard for the safety of the community."
With Phillips in custody facing a second-degree murder charge, police are searching for one to two additional shooters. The department has partnered with the FBI to set up a site specifically to submit tips on the Ybor City shooting.