Man fatally shoots stranger in argument over socks, Florida police say. He is charged
A 30-year-old is facing murder charges after officials said he shot a stranger in an argument over a package of socks.
“This was a completely senseless act of violence that took a young man’s life,” Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a Sept. 21 news release.
Police said they responded to a shooting Aug. 9 in Copeland Park and, upon arrival, found a man “in his early 20s suffering from a gunshot wound.”
A witness told police the 20-year-old found a package of socks on the ground, and an argument broke out after the man — a stranger to the 20-year-old — accused him of stealing the socks, according to the police department. The man was later identified as Jerome Alexander Parker, police said.
The altercation became physical, leading Parker to threaten the 20-year-old with a gun as the 20-year-old punched him, the witness told police.
Parker then fired the gun at the stranger, police said. The 20-year-old was later taken to a hospital where he died.
According to police, evidence gathered by detectives led to identifying Parker as a suspect. He was charged with first-degree murder.
This story was originally published September 23, 2024 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Man fatally shoots stranger in argument over socks, Florida police say. He is charged."
