Teen killed by Tampa police officers in Sunday night shooting

TAMPA - Tampa Police are investigating the officer-involved shooting of a 16-year-old boy Sunday night.

Police say the teen turned a gun on them and they shot him in self-defense. The shooting occurred at the Central Court Apartments, on East Columbus Drive around 8 p.m.

Robert Felton was at a party in the complex and said he saw the whole thing unfold. "I seen a whole bunch of undercovers run upstairs and I seen a whole bunch of other police run, but before they could even get to the stairways that these officers went up, they was already shooting at him."

But officers have quite a different story. Police say they arrived at the apartment complex, after reports of someone shooting a weapon, just after 7.

They say the suspect, 16 year-old Jevon Neal, matched the shooter's description. When they approached him, they say he ran upstairs, then pulled out an assault-style shotgun.

Laura McElroy is the Public Information Officer for TPD. "The officers were giving him orders to stop and show his hands, to drop the weapon But instead of complying, he continued to point the weapon at officers. At that point, they were in fear of their lives. They fired at least one shot in self-defense,"she said.

But some in the community plan to protest. Michelle Williams is a community activist.  "This is very upsetting to me. As the chief of staff of the new Black Panther Party, as the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County's biggest mouth community activist, this is not going to go down well with me," Williams said.

The protest was scheduled for Monday in front of Tampa Police Headquarters. The two officers involved are on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure, until the investigation is over.

The two officers are 36-year-old Gregory Pryor, a Tampa Police Officer for five years and Shannon Murphy, 35, a Tampa Police Officer for nine years.

Neal was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died.