Seven-year-old killed by gunfire at a Tampa beach on Fourth of July

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Tampa Police Chief logo. By Seán Kinane / WMNF News (8 July 2016).

A seven-year-old was killed by gunfire at Ben T. Davis Beach along the Courtney Campbell Causeway on the Fourth of July.

In a news conference Wednesday morning Tampa Police said it was a stray bullet.

According to police, gunfire erupted after two groups of beachgoers got into an argument about jetskiers riding too close to children in the water.

Deputy Chief Calvin Johnson said the child was not the intended target. “The child was inside the truck with his grandfather. And we believe that the same bullet that struck his grandfather’s hand is the one that hit him,” Johnson said.

According to Tampa Police, the child was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Johnson says that police spent the night searching for evidence and that suspects are still at large.

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