A dispute on North Nebraska Avenue in Tampa turned violent before sunrise Thursday, leaving one person shot in the leg, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Deputies were called out around 5:30 a.m. to the 14000 block after reports of gunfire, and investigators determined the shooting stemmed from an altercation between two people.
Call Came In Before Dawn
According to Tampa Bay 28, the sheriff's office said deputies responded to the shooting Thursday morning after receiving the call about the incident on the 14000 block of North Nebraska Avenue. Detectives who responded to the scene learned that two people had gotten into an altercation, and during that confrontation, one person was shot in the leg.
The sheriff's office has not released any information about the victim's injuries or current condition, according to the same report. It also remains unclear what led to the altercation in the first place, as investigators have not detailed a cause or identified those involved.
No Threat To Public, Authorities Say
Despite the gunfire rattling the neighborhood before daybreak, authorities said this is an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public, per the station's report. That assessment suggests investigators do not believe the shooting was random or connected to any ongoing danger for residents in the area.
The North Nebraska Avenue shooting comes about a week after a separate, unrelated incident in Tampa that also ended with a gunshot wound to the leg. In that case, deputies responded just after midnight on Nov. 5 to the 4800 block of Claymore Drive following reports of a shooting, where investigators said the victim was shot after walking away from an argument with a suspect who then fired twice, striking the victim once in the leg. That case resulted in an arrest on an attempted murder charge, though no such update has been reported in Thursday's incident.
The Claymore Drive case has since produced an arrest: a Hoodline update published Nov. 11 said De’Ronte Stephens was taken into custody on a probation-violation warrant, while HCSO was also seeking him in connection with the shooting. The separate case carries allegations of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm and discharging a firearm in public or on residential property; those charges are not findings of guilt. The reported arrest and charges concern Claymore Drive, not the Nebraska Avenue investigation.
No arrests have been announced in connection with the North Nebraska Avenue shooting, and the sheriff's office has not released further details about the victim or the circumstances surrounding the altercation. Hoodline will update this story as more information becomes available.
Tampa has also pursued violence-prevention work separate from the sheriff’s investigation. In an April 2024 opinion article, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said the city had received a $1.5 million Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant to help implement and expand intervention programs. The grant and programs are city efforts; there is no indication they are connected to this shooting or that Tampa police are leading the HCSO case. The city’s grant initiative provides broader context on local violence-prevention efforts.
