Current:Home > MyA Florida couple won $3,300 at the casino. Two men then followed them home and shot them. -Wealth Empowerment Zone
A Florida couple won $3,300 at the casino. Two men then followed them home and shot them.
View
Date:2025-04-16 09:00:52
Correction: An early version of this story provided an incorrect location for the casino the victims were visiting.
A Florida couple is grateful to be alive after two masked men attacked, robbed and shot them as they returned home from a date night at a casino, according to authorities.
The ambush happened at 5 a.m. on Aug. 2 outside a home in Riverview, Florida after the couple spent the evening at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesperson told USA TODAY on Friday. Two people were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds that morning.
Tristin Wright, 36, and Marcus Jenkins, 34, have been arrested in connection with the shooting, according to the department. Jenkins has been charged with attempted murder, but both men face several robbery, firearm and battery charges, the spokesperson said. Police are also currently looking for a third suspect.
USA TODAY was working to track down the men's attorneys, if they have them. None are listed for them in court records.
Gunshot victims detail attack
Kim Chambliss and her boyfriend, Val Delacruz, spoke to WTVT about the attack and how they are recovering from the shooting.
"I hear another gunshot and my first thought was 'They've killed him.' I was hysterical, I screamed and cried," Chambliss told the TV station about what she thought when the robbers shot Delacruz.
She talked about how shocking the attack was, saying "we're just average people who are out having a good time, who love each other."
"And to know that we didn't even realize that people were following us every step of the way − it's scary. It's scary," she told the station.
Five gunshots were fired during the robbery, the Miami Herald reported, citing Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies.
Ring camera caught shooting on video
Chambliss said the two men surrounded her and Delacruz's car and demanded money, WTVT reported.
"I ran and I fell in the door and the other guy came out and shot me again for the third time in my left leg," Delacruz told the TV station.
Ring camera footage captured the entire situation, even showing Delacruz being shot in both legs before pleading to the masked men who were standing over him, according to WTVT. The men drove away once the couple's neighbors walked outside.
The couple stayed at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for several hours and left after Delacruz won $3,300 on a slot machine and cashed out, the Miami Herald reported, citing the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
'We're just average people'
Investigators arrested Jenkins and Wright after surveillance video showed them watching the couple at the casino in Tampa, Florida for two hours before following them home, WTVT reported.
The attack happened on the one night a month the couple makes time for a date. "We don't get to do it often just because we both work extremely hard," Chambliss told the station.
Delacruz said he is "normally aware" of his surroundings or "would notice if someone was following" him, the TV station reported.
"We've always felt safe in our home. Safe in the neighborhood," Chambliss said. "To have that taken away (is) to have just such an insecure feeling."
veryGood! (552)
Related
- Judge says Mexican ex-official tried to bribe inmates in a bid for new US drug trial
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- The Daily Money: Disney+ wants your dollars
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
Ranking
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- 'Most Whopper
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- Messi injury update: Ankle 'better every day' but Inter Miami star yet to play Leagues Cup
- How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
Recommendation
Jury finds man guilty of sending 17-year-old son to rob and kill rapper PnB Rock
US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie return for an 'Encore,' reminisce about 'The Simple Life'
Jury selection set for Monday for ex-politician accused of killing Las Vegas investigative reporter
US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal