Parents of slain UT student wait for answers; arrest is 'very close'

Sitting in the living room of their Hudson home this morning, Kevin and Joanne McCall talked about the pain of losing a son to murder and the frustration that sets in with each day no arrest has been made.

The couple's 21-year-old son Ryan, a cross-country star at the University of Tampa who was planning to become a physical therapist, was gunned down in an early morning robbery August 19 on the north side of the North Boulevard bridge.

Waiting for justice to be served, the couple has a message for anyone with information about the fatal robbery.

"Somebody has to know something." Joanne McCall said. "And just please do the right thing and let justice be served."

The couple may soon get its wish.

Police are "very close" to making arrest, according to Tampa Police spokeswoman Laura McElroy.

McCall was fatally shot by a robber about 3 a.m. on the north side of the North Boulevard bridge, a span he and the rest of the cross-country team often crossed when they trained. McCall and a friend, Michael Harahan, 21, were walking home from the Retreat bar on South Hyde Park Avenue, taking a familiar route through an area known for violent crime, Tampa police say.

Harahan managed to get away and call for help. Police found the cross-country runner's body at the foot of the bridge that arches over the Hillsborough River, several blocks from his new home on Ridgewood Avenue and about a mile away from the university where he studied exercise science.

"We are hoping to make an arrest sooner rather than later," McElroy said this morning.

McElroy would not offer details of the shooting suspect.

"We don't want to jeopardize the investigation," she said.

Immediately after the shooting, police described the shooter as a black man in his mid-20s to mid-30s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds. He had short cropped hair, possibly facial hair and a husky build. He was wearing a white T-shirt and was armed with a handgun, police say.

"When we started out, we had very little," said McElroy this morning. "We have been able to develop some very strong leads and we are very close to making an arrest."

While the couple will welcome an arrest, it won't bring Ryan back.

"This has put a hole in so many people's hearts, not just ours," Joanne McCall said ."We didn't just lose a son, people have lost a friend, a teammate, a coach."

Kevin McCall said he's just grateful for all of the support from the community.

"Our neighbors gave up their house to my family members to sleep and it was just amazing what they did. We had fifty some people here at times."

Tonight, the UT cross-country team has its first meet of the new season, the first meet since Ryan was gunned down. The team is going to dedicate the meet in McCall's honor.

McCall's parents say they will be there. They say they know it will be tough, but it's something they need to do for Ryan.