Current:Home > MarketsA Florida couple won $3,300 at the casino. Two men then followed them home and shot them. -AssetFocus
A Florida couple won $3,300 at the casino. Two men then followed them home and shot them.
View
Date:2025-04-12 12:15:39
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! (5)
Related
- The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
- Murder suspect on the run after shooting at and injuring Georgia deputy, authorities say
- Burger King and Jack in the Box's spooky mini-movies seek to scare up Halloween sales
- 2 teen girls die in a UTV rollover crash in a Phoenix desert
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- Russian athletes won’t be barred from the Paris Olympics despite their country’s suspension
- Best Buy will sell DVDs through the holiday season, then discontinue sales
- After years of erasure, Black queer leaders rise to prominence in Congress and activism
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- Gypsy Rose Blanchard Vows to Speak Her Truth in Docuseries as She Awaits Prison Release
Ranking
- Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
- As Mexico expands abortion access, activists support reproductive rights at the U.S. border
- Ban on electronic skill games in Virginia reinstated by state Supreme Court
- An American mom and daughter are missing in Israel. Their family says Hamas is holding them hostage
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Sen. Cory Booker says $6 billion in Iranian oil assets is frozen: A dollar of it has not gone out
- Former Alabama police officer pleads guilty to manslaughter in shooting death of suicidal man
- ‘Barbenheimer’ was a boon to movie theaters and a headache for many workers. So they’re unionizing
Recommendation
What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
Jada Pinkett Smith Says Will Smith Hadn't Called Her His Wife in a Long Time Prior to Oscars Slap
U.S. reopening facility near southern border to house unaccompanied migrant children
Israeli twin babies found hidden and unharmed at kibbutz where Hamas killed their parents
Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
Haley Cavinder enters transfer portal, AP source says. She played at Miami last season
UAW breaks pattern of adding factories to strikes on Fridays, says more plants could come any time
Montana man to return home from hospital weeks after grizzly bear bit off lower jaw