Tampa police identify man found dead
Investigators believe Damarion Murray, 18, fatally shot himself after firing shots at his ex-girlfriend and at officers, police said.
The man who barricaded himself inside a family’s apartment on Thursday and was subsequently discovered dead in a wardrobe has been recognised by Tampa police.
According to a Tampa Police Department report on Friday, Damarion Murray, 18, shot at his ex-girlfriend and Tampa police officers at the Meridian Pointe Apartments before he was found dead from what authorities suspect to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
At approximately 3:40 p.m., the woman ran into her ex-boyfriend Murray at the apartment building located at 2450 E.
Hillsborough Ave. The woman felt threatened because Murray appeared to be following her, so she called a Tampa police detective, according to police. The detective was the lead investigator on a previous case in which Murray was suspected of making harassing phone calls to the woman.
The detective headed to the complex and called for backup.
Murray pulled a gun from his waistband and began chasing the woman into an apartment building, shooting at her twice, police said. The woman was not struck by the gunfire, but at the top of a flight of stairs in a building’s breezeway, Murray held her at gunpoint, forced her into an occupied apartment and barricaded the door, according to police.
Murray then called a family member and said, “Either she dies or I die,” police said. The family member tried to convince Murray to let everyone in the apartment leave. There were adults and young children in the apartment at the time, according to police.
Officers forced their way into the apartment as Murray ran into a back bedroom. The people in the apartment were able to escape as officers ordered Murray to come out. They heard a gunshot coming from the bedroom where Murray had fled to, followed by a pause and then a second shot.
Officer Joshua Williams fired two rounds toward the bedroom. When officers learned Murray was the only person still in the apartment, they left and the department activated its tactical team.
Negotiators tried to contact Murray for about 90 minutes but got no response. Shortly before 6 p.m., officers went back into the apartment and found Murray dead inside a closet in the bedroom with what police believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Investigators found a .380-caliber Bersa pistol near Murray and evidence that he’d fired at least one round toward the officers, according to police.
The Hillsborough medical examiner was working to confirm how Murray died.
Williams, a five-year veteran of the department, was placed on routine administrative leave while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates.
“Thank goodness our officers are OK and every innocent person is OK inside that apartment complex,” Tampa police Chief Lee Bercaw said at a news conference at the complex Thursday.
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Court records show that Tampa police arrested Murray at the apartment complex in May on charges of battery and false imprisonment. According to an arrest affidavit, Murray showed up unannounced at an apartment where his girlfriend of six months was staying and the two got into an argument in the bathroom. Murray blocked the door of the bathroom, locked the woman inside and refused her requests to let her leave, the report states.
The woman was able to get out of the bathroom and Murray then pushed her multiple times, according to the report.
