On Monday night at 10:47 p. m., Tampa Police responded to a call of shots fired in the area of 36th Street and Mohawk Avenue.
Officers arriving on the scene reported finding a Chevrolet truck abandoned and crashed through a fence in the yard of a vacant residence in the 3500 block of Mohawk. Officers said there were several bullet holes in the truck, and blood was found inside.
A short time later, police received another call from the 3600 block of Mohawk that a teenager had been shot.
Officers discovered Sherrod McWhite, 17, had been shot in the buttocks, and had him transported to a local hospital.
Officers later came in contact with Navarres Boyd, 16, at the same address. A subsequent investigation revealed McWhite and Boyd had been driving the truck when they got involved in an alleged altercation over drugs.
Police said the person McWhite and Boyd were arguing with pulled a handgun and fired several shots into the truck. He allegedly shot McWhite as he ran from the truck after it crashed. Boyd sustained minor facial injuries.
Police later discovered that McWhite had several warrants. One of them was for the Christmas Day 2012 robbery of a boy on 40th Street and Knollwood.
McWhite was identified, along with Quwdray Smith, Telvin Wright, and Tyler Johnson, all teens, as suspects in the robbery. The teens stole the boy’s bicycle and shoes at gunpoint. All of the suspects, but McWhite, the alleged gunman, were caught that day.
Investigators said they had been looking for McWhite. He was booked on armed robbery charges when he was released from the hospital.
Boyd had been reported as a runaway by his family on Christmas Day, 2012. He was later released to the custody of his mother.
An investigation is ongoing as to where the teenagers got the pickup truck. It has already been reported that it wasn’t stolen.
Captain Rocky Ratliff said the area where the incident occurred has been a problem for years.
“We’ve stepped up our activities in that area, and this week, we got a couple of warrants drawn up for arrests.
“We’ve served notice on that area, and I’ve even gone to a couple of suspicious residences and let them know we have our eyes on them. We’ve also talked to other citizens and let them know we’re doing as much as we can to restore order in that area.”
Capt. Ratliff said they first want to identify who all the players are, then lock the area down.
“Our plan is to hit the area hard for a month, and just maintain complete control of the area after that. We don’t want the lawbreakers to feel comfortable in that community, and feel they have taken it over. It still belongs to the law abiding people who want a safe neighborhood to raise their children.”
Capt. Ratliff said they have identified one house that has a high volume of foot and vehicle traffic, and they are gathering more evidence before taking any action.
