TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A Tampa woman was killed Thursday night when she was struck by a stray bullet as an argument among several teens broke out nearby, police said.
Police say 57-year-old Maria J. Rivera-Contreras was inside a vehicle with family members after delivering food to a friend on Columbus Avenue, just a few blocks away around 9:45 p.m. Thursday. As the family car was backing out to proceed onto Columbus Drive, a stray bullet hit her.
Police say a group of teens were engaged in an ongoing dispute in the area on Thursday night. They say the teen who was involved in the dispute was riding his bicycle along Columbus Drive. Police say the shot that was fired was intended to strike the teen on the bike, but accidentally hit Rivera-Contreras, killing her.
Her older brother, Victor Rivera, Sr., drove the car to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
“When I see the chop, chop, chop,” he said, remembering hearing the sound of gunfire that he will never forget. “He kill my best sister, grandmother, grandma,” he told News Channel 8 tearfully outside the family home in Tampa Heights.
Her family is now in mourning, recalling how the bullet struck Rivera-Contreras in the head as she sat in the backseat of the car with her niece, nephew, and brother. Contreras-Rivera and her granddaughter, who she had just brought back from Puerto Rico just hours before, had switched seats in the car at the last moment. “She told her to go in the front seat,” recalled Victor Rivera, Jr., her nephew. “So if it wasn’t for her telling her to go in the front seat, my niece would have been the one that took the bullet.
Tampa police ask anyone who knows anything to come forward.
Trouble is, no one is.
Police say there were a lot of witnesses who had an up-close view to this violent crime but they’re too afraid to step forward.
“This no snitching culture on a senseless tragedy like that should not come into play,” Tampa Assistant Chief Marc Hamlin told News Channel 8 on Friday. He said people don’t want to come forward because they don’t know what could happen to them.
It’s the third time this week a person has been shot and killed in Tampa. On Monday, two teens were shot just north of Ybor City. A 17-year-old died at the scene. A 14-year-old survived. The next day, a Tampa man was charged with gunning down another man. “We try to keep it together,” sobbed Mari Pacheco, the woman’s aunt. “That’s the only thing we can do is, you know, be there, you know, and support each other. That’s all we can do.”
As for this latest case, no arrest has been made. Police are actively investigating and anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477). A $3,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the suspect(s) in this case.
