Current:Home > ScamsA Florida couple won $3,300 at the casino. Two men then followed them home and shot them. -Mastery Money Tools
A Florida couple won $3,300 at the casino. Two men then followed them home and shot them.
View
Date:2025-04-18 16:39:49
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! (7143)
Related
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Powerball jackpot winners can collect anonymously in certain states. Here's where
- Stop What You're Doing: Kate Spade's Surprise Sale Is Back With 70% Off Handbags, Totes and More
- Indiana woman stabs baby niece while attempting to stab dog for eating chicken sandwich
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- How Jessica Alba's Mexican Heritage Has Inspired Her Approach to Parenting
- Virginia shooting leaves 4 kids, 1 adult injured: Police
- A concert audience of houseplants? A new kids' book tells the surprisingly true tale
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- 3-year-old boy found dead in Rio Grande renews worry, anger over US-Mexico border crossings
Ranking
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- What to know about NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission
- FBI launches probe into police department over abuse allegations
- White House creates office for gun violence prevention
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- Check Out the Most Surprising Celeb Transformations of the Week
- These Best-Selling, Top-Rated Amazon Bodysuits Are All $25 & Under
- No. 3 Florida State ends Death Valley drought with defeat of No. 23 Clemson
Recommendation
Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
Florida siblings, ages 10 and 11, stopped while driving mom’s car on freeway 200 miles from home
FBI launches probe into police department over abuse allegations
Yom Kippur 2023: What to know about the holiest day of the year in Judaism
SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
Taiwan factory fire death toll rises to 9 after 2 more bodies found
Three dead in targeted shooting across the street from Atlanta mall, police say
US diplomat says intelligence from ‘Five Eyes’ nations helped Canada to link India to Sikh’s killing