Two Deputies shot and four people dead…
Four people were killed and two deputies were hospitalized, following two shootings in Tampa Saturday morning.
A shootout took place between deputies and Jorge Orlando Bello-Garcia in Tampa.
Officials said that the shootout unfolded after a report of shots fired at a residence in Tampa.
According to authorities Chris Artigas, 45, and Bello-Garcia's wife, Gina Marie Lumantia-Bello, 44, were found dead in the residence where shots had been fired.
Artigas was a captain with the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue in the Westchase area. He had served with HCFR for 23 years.
The third victim who was also at the residence, Regina Ann Coffaro, 44, was taken to a local hospital where she later died.
Deputies were in the area of the residence, and they were able to chase the suspect to the intersection a half-mile away, where they confronted him.
According to Gee, the deputies cornered the suspect and ordered him to put his hands out the window.
He said that the suspect complied at first, but then pulled out a gun and began firing. The deputies returned fire and killed the suspect.
The shootout took place in front of a convenience store in a residential area in Carrollwood.
According to officials, one deputy, 53-year-old Art Lence a 17-year veteran with the department, was shot in the lower torso.
The other deputy, 55-year-old Ray Wilson a 27-year veteran, was hit in the arm.
Sheriff David Gee describes Wilson's arm as having been "shot away." Gee said Wilson was carried to a nearby fire station by another deputy on the scene.
The deputies were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital where they are both now in fair condition after undergoing surgery
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Update
The two deputies who were shot yesterday are out of surgery. Deputy Ray Wilson, a 27-year veteran who was shot in the arm, is now out of the hospital.
Seventeen-year veteran deputy Art Lence, who was shot in the lower torso, is still in the hospital and is expected to recover.
Gunman was intent on 'doing something bad'
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
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HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- The gunman who killed three people on Saturday and engaged in a shootout with Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies before being killed was intent on doing "something bad.'
According to Bay News 9's partner newspaper, The St. Petersburg Times, the sheriff's office's investigation has revealed that Jorge Bello-Garcia's pickup truck was loaded with ammunition when he drove to his estranged wife's north Tampa home Saturday morning.
That's where investigators say Bello-Gracia killed Gina Marie Lamantia-Bello, 44 and her friends Regina Coffaro 44 and Chris Artigas, 45.
Lamantia-Bello, Coffaro and Artigas were all Tampa natives who had known each other since their high school days 25 years ago.
A memorial service has been planned for Artigas, a popular Hillsborough County firefighter, Wednesday at 11 am at the Van Dyke United Methodist Church on Lakeshore Road.
The two deputies injured in the gunfight continue to recover.
Deputies Art Lence was shot in the lower torso and Ray Wilson suffered a wound to his left forearm.
The sheriff's office also is praising deputy Malachi McCoy, who shot Bello-Garcia as he was attacking Wilson.
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