Tampa Police have arrested one suspect, and are searching for another who shot at officers conducting a traffic stop.
Israel Magwood, 19, was arrested and charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling, resisting an officer without violence, and loitering and/or prowling. Additional charges are pending.
Authorities say officers from Tampa Police Department's District III were conducting a traffic stop on two bicyclists at North Central Avenue and East Floribraska Avenue when one of them fired shots at the officers. One officer returned fire.
Officers captured Magwood after as he was being chased by a neighbor wielding a homemade sword.
"It sounded either like a grizzly bear or a person," Matt Dick, who chased the suspect, said.
Dick said he was in his garage when he heard a commotion. He then went into his yard to investigate.
"The first thing I grabbed was a sword. Why? It was the closest thing to me," Dick said.
Not finding anything, he went to look around an abandoned property next door. He says he was inside of the building for less than a minute when he heard gunshots. He then stepped out of the building and saw Magwood stumbling over a fence.
"Clumsiest thing I've ever seen, falling over this fence," He said. "I saw a police officer with the lights on out there on Floribraska. I thought, 'Okay, I'm going to chase him right into that police car.' And then I hear police officers screaming, 'Get down. Drop the gun, Drop the gun!' And I'm like 'That's right. Drop the gun! Drop the gun!.' Then I realize, they're yelling at me. They think this thing in my hand is a gun."
Dick was detained and questioned for several hours before he was released. He said he knows the police were doing their jobs and protecting themselves when they took him into custody.
Tampa Police say there are no reported injuries to any officer or any suspects.
Officers are actively searching for another suspect. It's not clear if the person taken into custody is the person who fired the shots, say Police, who describe their suspect as being "not cooperative."
Two guns were also found at the scene.
A tactical unit went door to door overnight in the neighborhood, even busting into several vacant homes, looking for the second bicyclist.
