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Pasco Deputies Search For Suspect As Shooting Turns Fatal

Tribune photo by FRED BELLET

Pasco County sheriff's forensics investigator Sue Miller marks a blood stain in the driveway of 6641 Mangrove Drive, the scene of a shooting this afternoon.

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By GEOFF FOX | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 23, 2008

Updated: 04/23/2008 07:08 pm

WESLEY CHAPEL - The man shot on Mangrove Drive this afternoon has died.

Douglas Abrams, who lived at 6255 Mangrove Drive, died at an area hospital after being shot down the street by a neighbor, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's office.

Deputies are looking for the man they say shot Abrams.

Edward K. Stoddard Jr., 28, 6623 Mangrove Drive, is armed and considered dangerous, said sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll. Stoddard is driving a green 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup with Florida license plate 231 JCG.

Edward K. Stoddard Jr.

The shooting happened about 1 p.m. at 6641 Mangrove Drive. The home is in the Angus Valley community and sits off Old Pasco Road, just north of County Road 54 (Wesley Chapel Boulevard). The street includes a mix of well-kept and less-maintained single- and double-wide homes.

Neighbor Teddy Krampitz was outside with his wife and two children when he heard three shots ring out about 1 p.m.

Krampitz and other neighbors said there'd been trouble before between Abrams and Stoddard. Krampitz said he saw Stoddard punch Abrams several weeks ago, but then things seemed to cool down between them.

"I saw them walk by each other, and nothing happened," he said.

Ron Rogers, a friend of Douglas' family, said the family was distraught over his death. He said Abrams was no stranger to trouble, but his family had hoped he was trying to improve his life.

Stoddard's arrest record goes back to 1998 and includes convictions for battery and drug charges.

Last month, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office arrested him on charges of fleeing to elude law enforcement at high speed, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and discharging a firearm from a vehicle.

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News Channel 8 reporter Lynn Carson contributed to this report. Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

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