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Police: Suspects In Drug-Related Shooting Still Being Sought

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 7, 2009

Updated: 01/07/2009 03:59 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - Which way did they go?

That was the question gnawing at St. Petersburg police after their SWAT team surrounded a house this morning, in the mistaken belief three robbery suspects were inside.

The residents of 4514 Ninth Ave. N. maintain the suspects never got in. They say the suspects couldn't have, because the home was locked.

The three suspects had just shot Ramon Jerel Flournoy, 25, outside Flournoy's home at 4340 Ninth Ave. N., two blocks away.

Flournoy has told police he was taking his trash out to the alley when the three men approached him for his car, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt. Flournoy refused, and when he turned to return to his home, he was shot in the back, Proffitt said.

"It happened right behind my house," said Amanda Kiefel, 20. "It woke me up. I just heard some muffled screaming, a gunshot and some guy yelling, 'Help!' "

A K-9 officer's dog tracked the trio from Flournoy's home to the 4514 address, where nine people live, Proffitt said. The officer spotted one of the suspects hiding inside, and the three may have slipped out before the SWAT team surrounded the residence, the spokesman said.

Three adults living at the house – Terry Watts, April Curry and Tawana Dixon – said at no point did any of the thieves make it inside, though. They and the other six people in the house, most of them children, were coaxed outside by police before the SWAT team went in and exited empty-handed.

The standoff lasted roughly three hours, from 7 a.m., when Flournoy was shot, to 10 a.m., when the SWAT team went inside.

Flournoy, 25, underwent surgery at Bayfront Medical Center for a non-life-threatening injury, police said.

The shooting had "drug overtones," Proffitt said, because among other things, crack cocaine and marijuana was in the car the three men wanted.

A handful of homes were evacuated during the standoff. There was also a lockout at Mount Vernon Elementary School, about a half-mile away, but it has since been lifted, school district spokeswoman Andrea Zahn said.

Children were able to enter but not leave; the school's gates and exterior doors were locked, and staff was posted at each exit. A lockout is not as severe as a lockdown, where all movement within school buildings is restricted.

Sonya Miller said her children attend the school, but she kept them home this morning because of the police activity.

"I was in the shower, and I heard this commotion," she said. "I've never seen police with guns drawn."

Stay with TBO.com for updates.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin contributed to this report. Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336.

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