ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Shots were fired Tuesday night as community members gathered to demand an end to gun violence in St. Pete.
Police officers responded to a man shot on 13th Avenue South as elected leaders and family members held an anti-gun rally about one mile away.
“I just wish they would stop with the gun violence,” said Angela Wheeler. “I never would have imagined that I would have to bury my daughter.”
Wheeler lost her daughter on Sunday morning in a deadly shooting. Police say Tyree Bell shot into a crowd, killing Arnieceia Milton.
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Milton leaves behind two children, ages 8 and three-months-old.
While investigators are still trying to track down Bell, they believe he intended to hit Milton’s boyfriend.
Tyree Lamons Bell, age 25, is wanted in the shooting death of Arnieceia Milton, early Sun. in the 1600 block of 16th St. S. Anyone w/ tip leading to an arrest, may be eligible for a reward of up to $3,000, contact Crime Stoppers of Pinellas at 1-800-873-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/bfihGPq8uK
— St. Pete Police (@StPetePD) November 16, 2020
“There were a lot of witnesses and nobody’s talking,” said Katherine Proctor, Milton’s cousin. “This has to end, it has to stop. We have lost too many lives to gun violence and that’s the problem.”
According to St. Pete Police, there have been nine deadly shootings so far this year. There were a total of 15 homicides involving guns in 2018 and 13 total in 2019.
St. Pete City Council member Lisa Wheeler-Bowman knows the pain of losing a loved one to gun violence first-hand. Her son was shot and killed in 2008. She is also Arnieceia Milton’s second-cousin.
“If you have never buried a child, you don’t understand the hole in your heart but what I do admire about every one of you out here today, you understand that enough is enough.”
