EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been corrected to accurately reflect that non-fatal shootings have increased year to date, while fatal shootings have decreased in the same period.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — One week since the shooting that killed 7-year-old Yitzian Garcia, Tampa Police say they are making headway in the investigation.
“Our homicide detectives are working hard on that case,” Deputy Chief Michael Hutner said. “Some of them probably haven’t even slept in a while. It’s a very tragic event. They are making headway on the case, they’re working it every day and they’re following the leads and hopefully they’ll come to a resolution and hopefully we’ll be able to address the suspect in that case.”
The shooting happened on the Fourth of July on the eastbound side of the Clearwater Causeway. Tampa Police said two groups were arguing over jet skis when shots were fired, hitting and killing the 7-year-old boy.
“There’s not too many witnesses because it was so dark out there, there was a lot of people involved, two big groups, every aspect of that is making the case more difficult,” Hutner said.
Police are asking anyone with information to please contact detectives.
Officers launched a series of community meetings Tuesday aimed at increasing conversation between community members and police in an ongoing effort to reduce violent crime.
TPD said year-to-date statistics show overall crime is down 2.2% from January to June of 2023 compared to the same period last year. Violent crime is also down 7.7%. Fatal shootings have also seen a decrease.
But non-fatal shootings are up 2.4%, according to data given by police at the forum.
“In a perfect world, there would be zero crime,” Hutner said. “Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen because we have bad people out there. But we’re going to do our part. Day by day, we’re finding the people that are committing crimes and we’re trying to put them in jail.”
