Current:Home > MyPoinbank Exchange|A Florida couple won $3,300 at the casino. Two men then followed them home and shot them. -InvestPioneer
Poinbank Exchange|A Florida couple won $3,300 at the casino. Two men then followed them home and shot them.
PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-09 09:36:48
Correction: An early version of this story provided an incorrect location for the casino the victims were visiting.
A Florida couple is Poinbank Exchangegrateful 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! (12115)
Related
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Woman accused of throwing her disabled son to his death in a crocodile-infested canal
- Missouri’s GOP Gov. Mike Parson signs law expanding voucher-like K-12 scholarships
- As Patrick Beverley calls his actions ‘inexcusable,’ police announce they’ve opened an investigation
- From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
- I Shop Every SKIMS Drop, I Predict These Styles Will Sell Out ASAP
- Kim Kardashian Is Now At Odds With Unbearable Khloe in Kardashians Season 5 Trailer
- The United Methodist Church just held a historic vote in favor of LGBT inclusion. Here's what that means for the organization's future
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Judge orders community service, fine for North Dakota lawmaker tied to building controversy
Ranking
- Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
- Iowa facility that mistreated residents with intellectual disabilities nears closure
- Lawyers’ coalition provides new messengers for Black voter engagement
- Homeless encampment cleared from drug-plagued Philadelphia neighborhood
- New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
- Idaho Murder Case: Former Roommate Reveals Final Text Sent to Victim Madison Mogen
- Why JoJo Siwa Says Leaving Dance Moms Was the “Best Decision”
- Zayn Malik Reveals the Impressive Gift Khai Inherited From Mom Gigi Hadid
Recommendation
$73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
Remains found nearly 50 years ago in Arizona identified as a Vietnam veteran from Minnesota
Siblings, age 2 and 4, die after being swept away in fast water in California river
What is a tornado emergency and how is it different from a warning or a watch?
Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
College football way-too-early Top 25 after spring has SEC flavor with Georgia at No. 1
California regulators to vote on changing how power bills are calculated
Retail theft ring raid leads to recovery of stolen merch worth millions including Advil, Pepcid