Posted on 06/30/2013 5:40:16 AM PDT by rarestia
The motorist killed in a shooting that closed eastbound Interstate 4 in Tampa for nearly eight hours Saturday has been identified as a 47-year-old Orlando man.
Fred William Turner Jr. was fatally shot while he was on a cell phone telling a 911 dispatcher someone with a gun was pursuing him, authorities said.
The shooting happened around 3 p.m. and prompted authorities to close I-4 at I-75 while they examined the scene and searched for clues. The closure eventually stretched west to U.S. 301 and didn't end until nearly 11 p.m.
Turner, who was driving a newer model Ford Mustang, told the dispatcher he was being followed by a man with a gun in the area of North 50th Street and East Columbus Drive. The pursuer drove a gray Ford Taurus with tinted windows, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.
Turner told the dispatcher that before the man had started following him, he had pulled up next to him, rolled down a window and brandished a semi-automatic handgun. He didn't know the man or why he started following him.
Turner stayed on the phone with the dispatcher while he drove onto I-4 and headed east toward Orlando. As he approached the I-75 overpass, shots rang out and Turner was hit, authorities said.
Turner pulled his car over and died at the scene, deputies said.
Three law enforcement agencies - the sheriff's office, Tampa police and the Florida Highway Patrol - participated in the investigation Saturday. Authorities are asking that anyone who has relevant information call Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1-800-873-8377.
“...The pursuer drove a gray Ford Taurus with tinted windows, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said....”
*******************************************************************
Hopefully the cops aren’t ruling out the possibility that the shooting was done by an off-duty, but armed, law enforcement officer who somehow felt that the victim “dissed” him as happened in Maryland recently. Any officers driving a gray Ford Taurus with tinted windows down there?
Not a racist thing, just common sense, but when I’m driving in an unfamiliar city, I look for the street named MLK Blvd. as an area I should avoid.
Not so much. The newer vehicles are generally Chevy Impalas. The squad/interceptor vehicles are still Crown Vics.
This part of town is replete with old beaters. The biggest "tell" that you're in the ghetto is that all of the cars are circa 1995 with 22" rims and tinted windows.
In the picture, they’re coming up on the 301 overpass. Once you’re past this point, it’s pretty much nothing but swamp and farmland for 25-30 miles until you hit Lakeland. He could’ve taken the exit to 301 by the Florida State Fairgrounds, but even there, he wouldn’t have been safe. The speed limit in that area is 65, so he was likely driving at a decent clip if not faster given the circumstances.
Being pursued, shot at, and trying to communicate with a 911 dispatcher, the brain is likely to be so frazzled that getting off the interstate didn’t even present as a valid option.
MLK is just a few blocks over from Columbus, so you would be wise to avoid the area anyway.
The I4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando has grown very fast but is dotted with podunk towns that used to be "off the beaten path." Now they're overrun by thugs and criminals due to proximity to a major travel artery.
Take Seffner for example. Seffner used to be sleepy farming community dotted with lakes. When the I4 corridor expansion started in the late 90s, people started buying up tracts of land and building houses. There are parts of Seffner that are still rural, but it's become a bedroom community complete with marijuana grow houses and meth labs. The crime in Seffner has gotten so bad that many of the farmers boarded up their family homes and moved away. I can't say I blame them.
Lakeland's also turned into a bit of cesspool. It was once considered a quiet mid-point stop for a trip from Tampa to Orlando, but now it's one of those areas where you make one wrong turn and you're likely to be shot. It's sad how much transportation hubs, once considered a life-giving artery for an old rural town, are turning towns into ghettos with rival gangs fighting for turf and residents cowering in their homes.
That's one of the "warning signs" when one of the main streets changes -- I've often wondered if this was done by local governments deliberately.
Right, it’s just too bad he didn’t know the area - there is a police station just N on the Orient Rd exit. And the Orient Rd jail is to the south about a mile. There are always some sheriff presence there.
To be honest, he’d probably have been safer at the Hard Rock right there, but given where he was on the interstate, getting to the Hard Rock from eastbound I4 near 301 would’ve been difficult if not impossible while being pursued.
And damn near every one of them drawing OT! Looks like the rush when Fresh Hot Donuts are ready.
More local coverage:
Tampa Bay Times
WTSP (CBS affiliate)
WFLA (NBC affiliate)
WFTS ABC Action News
WTVT My FOX Tampa Bay
Orlando Sentinel
“I expect that the cops wanted every single piece of brass.”
Thanks to the present CommiesR’Us Regime, usable brass is hard to find. If it were once fired 10mm brass, closure might be justifiable - if and only if the brass is sent to me for careful testing.
From your linked TBO.com article:
“...Turner died at the roadside crime scene. He is from another county, Carter said, and deputies will release his name after his relatives are notified of his death.”
*****************************************************************
Nice clear writing. The article says they will release the deceased’s name after they notify his relatives; meanwhile the article lists the deceased’s full name. Judging by the accuracy I suspect the writer was taking a bit of time off from writing about the Zimmerman case.
It nestles quite comfortably on my rights side, near the center console. I believe this ammo: 
ideal for either situation as it is less of a long range threat to bystanders.
LOL. Nice catch. This is what happens when spell check is the sole edit function.
I’d think it would times like this I’d say to hell with the auto insurance and floor it/slam the brakes.
If there is a CHANCE I would be in fear for my life, I’d at least make it that much easier to find the other car, if I could not disable it in the process.
Plus, the ramming would throw off the shooters aim :)
Meekly rolling down the road while someone quite obviously is intending to kill you is not going to end well no matter what. A dashcam would be a godsend in court, but I’d ram them too, if I had no other option.
It reminds me of DUI checkpoints under the ‘Governor’s Highway Safety Program’....except the governor has **** all to do with it. Uncle Sam pays the police overtime and all funds are strictly for DUI...all other crime is off limits. In the end, it’s more cash funneled to a union with a veneer of do-gooderism.
We as a society have been programmed to wait too long to save ourselves. We’re programmed that the police will help us. This man’s final moments were likely spent fleeing and not trying to elude or overtake.
I’d like to think I’d have the presence of mind to take aggressive maneuvers, but in this litigious society, it’s possible that I’d be sued by some business idiot who wound up being late to a meeting in Orlando because I clipped his car while trying to flee for my life.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.