ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The St. Petersburg Police Department has identified a person of interest in a pair of recent homicides that sent detectives chasing leads.
With the help of the FBI and Tampa police officers, authorities took the yet unidentified person into custody Wednesday evening. As of Thursday morning, he was being held in the Hillsborough County Jail on charges that were not related to the deadly St. Pete shootings.
Investigators have not yet publicly released the man's name or any additional information about him.
The announcement that a person of interest is being held comes just one day after St. Pete Police Chief Anthony Holloway asked for the public's help in getting surveillance video into the hands of detectives. Investigators have been working around-the-clock to try to piece together exactly what happened.
If you haven't been following the story this week, it involves the seemingly-random shooting deaths of two men who share a last name but are not related and have no known connection.
Authorities say 60-year-old Vernon Williams was killed early April 10 on Melrose Avenue S., and 24-year-old Corlenzo Williams died of a gunshot wound just after 1 a.m. April 12 on 17th Avenue South.
And while there are "a lot of similarities" between the "unprovoked" attacks, police had not yet said with certainty whether they believe one person could have been behind both shootings. However, they certainty haven't ruled out the lone gunman theory.
In each homicide, police say they believe a driver may have pulled up and begun a conversation with each man before the shooting.
“What we want to tell the public is that if someone comes up to you that period of time and you don’t know them, please, please do not go up to that car. Walk away from that car," Holloway said this week.
Anyone who lives in the area of Melrose Avenue South and 17th Avenue South is asked to contact police with any surveillance video or doorbell video they may have. Police are hoping the video will help them establish a timeline and possibly determine the shooter's identity with certainty.
Detectives and police officers have stepped up their presence in the area, and they are getting help from federal and state partners on the case.
Authorities recently announced a reward of up to $5,000 for tips regarding either of the homicides. To be eligible for a potential cash reward, tipsters should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS.
The St. Pete Police Department says murders are actually trending down so far in 2022. This time in 2021, there had already been 15 killings in the city. This year, including these two shooting deaths, there have only been six apparent murders in the city.