Tampa police officer killed in Sulphur Springs

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Corporal Mike Roberts Center

TAMPA — A police officer was gunned down Wednesday night in Sulphur Springs, and died despite efforts by a patrol sergeant who performed CPR on the wounded man on the sidewalk of Nebraska Avenue.

The attacker ran through a park at Yukon Street and hid in a back yard, officials said. Police dogs tracked him there, and he gave up without resistance.

Just before 10 p.m., the officer, Cpl. Mike Roberts, responded to a call about a suspicious person, and approached a man pushing a shopping cart along Nebraska Avenue around E Arctic Street.

Assistant Chief Jane Castor said the 11-year Tampa police veteran and the man with the cart quickly got into a violent confrontation. Roberts, 38, chased the man across the street, but the man broke free and ran back to his cart.

There, the man pulled a gun out of his backpack, and hit the officer in the head with it several times, then drew back and pulled the trigger.

Roberts had on a bulletproof vest, but the slug caught him in the arm, Castor said. It slipped through his arm and lodged in his chest.

The officer had radioed in that he was on the scene with the suspicious person, and the dispatcher asked him again and again if he was all right.

When he didn't answer, she dispatched backup, Castor said.

The first to arrive was a sergeant, who saw Roberts down and ran to him. Then he saw the shooter pointing an AR-15 at him.

Castor said the sergeant took cover behind a Dumpster, and the man ran away. He then rushed to his fellow officer and started performing CPR while other police converged on the scene and chased after the shooter.

Ernie Allen, 49, was walking home from the dog track and encountered the aftermath of the shooting. He said about 20 police cars roared down Nebraska Avenue and an officer was doing CPR on a man stretched out on the pavement.

An ambulance took Roberts to Tampa General Hospital's trauma center, where he died, police said. He is survived by his wife and a 3-year-old son.

Castor said the man with the shopping cart had been heavily armed. Police found two 9mm Glocks, a .22 caliber pistol and the AR-15 assault rifle in his possessions. The cart was full of military gear.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and police Chief Steve Hogue went to the hospital to meet with the officer's family, Castor said.

Castor said she had been on her way home when she heard the call go out, "Emergency. Officer injured.'' She arrived about 10 minutes after the incident.

Asked about the source of the weapons in the possession of a man pushing a shopping cart, she said he had a receipt from Fort Bragg, N.C., for the purchase of all the weapons.

He is the 27th Tampa police officer to die in the line of duty. According to police records, Master Police Officer Lois Marrero was the last officer shot in the line of duty, on July 6, 2001, and Detective Juan Serrano died in a car crash on Feb.25, 2006. He is the 17th Tampa police officer to be shot and killed in the line of duty.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publics...prings/1029217

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TAMPA — Police have arrested the man they say shot and killed one of their own.

Humberto Delgado, 34, of 324 W Country Club Drive in Oldsmar, was picked up around 10:30 p.m., charged with premeditated murder in the first degree, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and carrying a concealed handgun.

Delgado was tracked down by a police dog shortly after the officer was hospitalized. He was taken to the Hillsborough County Jail, where he remains without bail.

Neighbors of Delgado's listed address said they thought they had seen Delgado there.

Ronnie Harrison, 54, has lived on Country Club Drive for about 15 years. He said has noticed a lot of people in and out of the house a few doors down from him, but nothing unusual. He said Delgado has not been around very long.

"They never raise no hell or nothing," Harrison said. "Like every family they get to arguing once in a while."

Cpl. Mike Roberts, 38, was shot and killed Wednesday night as he patrolled a neighborhood near Nebraska Avenue, despite wearing a bulletproof vest. He is at least the third Tampa police officer killed while wearing a vest.

Police said Roberts had seen a suspicious person pushing a shopping cart full of items and stopped him. But the person, now identified as Delgado, started struggling with the officer. Roberts tried to use his Taser, but Delgado ran across Nebraska Avenue at E Artic Street ,and Roberts chased him.

They began fighting again on the west side of Nebraska Avenue when, police say, Delgado pulled out a gun and started beating Roberts with it.

When Roberts was on the ground and defenseless, Delgado shot him, an arrest report states.

The shot hit Roberts on the right side of his chest, in an area not covered by his vest. Witnesses told police Delgado then ran back to the shopping cart, took out a large canvas bag and ran away.

Robert's sergeant pulled up and saw him fleeing, at which point Delgado turned back, pulling an out AR-15 assault rifle and pointing it at the officer before running away.

A police dog tracked Delgado to 812 Yukon St., where he surrendered. He was armed with three handguns and the assault rifle.

The sergeant went back to help Roberts, who was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where more than 50 officers and top police officials gathered in the emergency room.

Roberts was pronounced dead at 10:50 p.m.

Early Thursday morning, several police vehicles lined up along the streets surrounding the scene where Roberts was shot. The area was blocked off and eerily quiet as officers somberly sipped coffee as they looked at the corner.

One officer wiped a tear from her eye as another placed his hand on her shoulder. Another sat crouched to the ground for several minutes.

Passersby who arrived at a nearby bus stop for work or walked through the area asked police and reporters what happened. At a nearby corner, people from a homeless shelter called New Life Community Outreach said they had never heard of Delgado, nor had they seen anyone new pushing around a shopping cart.

"From what I hear, he just kind of came out of nowhere," said Nelson Giddings, a security guard at the shelter. "Every now and then there's somebody new, but this is just something that came out of the blue."

People from the shelter said they heard a police officer yell "halt" twice, then heard a gunshot. Within 30 to 45 seconds, police vehicles swarmed the area, Giddings said.

Roberts had been an officer for 11 years, five of which he spent as a canine unit officer with his partner, Chase, according to the Jesuit High School web site where he performed a demonstration for students in February.

In July, Roberts was promoted to corporal and assigned to patrol District 2, the area where he was killed Wednesday.

He was a decorated officer who won the department's life saving award in 2005 and had received dozens of letters of appreciation from citizens, supervisors and other law enforcement agencies, police said. He also served with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army.

Roberts is survived by his wife and 3-year-old son.

Police called him a family man and avid sports fan. He played goalie on the police department's hockey team.

Roberts was honored with a Life Saving Award in 2005 and had received dozens of letters of appreciation from citizens, supervisors and other law enforcement agencies, police said. He served with the U.S. Airforce and U.S Army.

Police said he was known for his sense of humor and love of practical jokes.

Police Chief Stephen Hogue and Mayor Pam Iorio spoke at 1:30 a.m. Thursday. The mayor looked down and sighed deeply, then put her hand on the chief's back as he began to speak to news cameras. The chief battled back tears, pausing occasionally while he answered questions.

"It's a tragic day in Tampa today. We've lost a veteran police officer tonight," said the chief, stopping to exhale. "Cpl. Mike Roberts was killed in the line of duty tonight around 10 tonight. He was doing his job."

Iorio spoke about Roberts's love for his wife and son. "That's all he talked about was his 3-year-old son. He was one of the best police officers. … He was the best, and that's what we lost tonight," she said.

On breaking the news to Roberts's wife, Hogue said, "It was very emotional, it was emotional for all of us. We've got 50 police officers crying up there right now along with her and her family. There's just no way to describe what's going on up there."

The Tampa City Council on Thursday called for a moment of silence in honor of Cpl. Mike Roberts.

Fred Arnold, a Tampa police officer on duty at the city council meeting, said he met Robert when they worked off duty at a concert at Tampa Theatre.

"He liked to joke around,'' Arnold said. "He liked Scooby Doo.''

Fellow officer Don Miller described Roberts as having a great sense of humor.

"He was a happy-go-lucky guy. A funny guy. A good policeman,'' Miller said.

In an official statement Thursday, Mayor Iorio said, "May his son grow up knowing that his father was our hero."

Roberts is the 27th Tampa police officer killed in the line of duty and the 17th Tampa police officer to be shot and killed in the line of duty.

In 2001, Officer Lois Marrero died while she, too, wore a bulletproof vest. Marrero was shot in the neck and side. And in 1988, Officer Porfirio Soto died when a bullet went through his vest's armhole.

Delgado, the man charged with Roberts's death, has no prior criminal record in Florida. Other records show that Delgado has roots in the Virgin Islands and North Carolina.

His Facebook page shows that Delgado graduated from St. Croix Central High School in 1993 and the Fayetteville Technical Community College, in North Carolina, which offers special courses for military personnel. He lists his employer as the Department of Veterans Affairs, but the department has not confirmed that yet.

Listed under Delgado's About Me: "Just here on earth trying to survive in this world without loosing my identity."

His cousin, Ana Ramirez , said Delgado was a police officer in the Virgin Islands, and he has two kids. Ramirez said Delgado later joined the military and lived in North Carolina with his girlfriend and son.

When he got out of the military, Ramirez said, Delgado was very depressed because of injuries he'd gotten while in service and was trying to get his life back together. It's not clear where Delgado served.

Another cousin, Nancy Velazquez, told a Times reporter she was in shock. "I don't understand. He is not a murderer," Velazquez said.

Corporal Mike Roberts Center

TAMPA — A police officer was gunned down Wednesday night in Sulphur Springs, and died despite efforts by a patrol sergeant who performed CPR on the wounded man on the sidewalk of Nebraska Avenue.

The attacker ran through a park at Yukon Street and hid in a back yard, officials said. Police dogs tracked him there, and he gave up without resistance.

Just before 10 p.m., the officer, Cpl. Mike Roberts, responded to a call about a suspicious person, and approached a man pushing a shopping cart along Nebraska Avenue around E Arctic Street.

Assistant Chief Jane Castor said the 11-year Tampa police veteran and the man with the cart quickly got into a violent confrontation. Roberts, 38, chased the man across the street, but the man broke free and ran back to his cart.

There, the man pulled a gun out of his backpack, and hit the officer in the head with it several times, then drew back and pulled the trigger.

Roberts had on a bulletproof vest, but the slug caught him in the arm, Castor said. It slipped through his arm and lodged in his chest.

The officer had radioed in that he was on the scene with the suspicious person, and the dispatcher asked him again and again if he was all right.

When he didn't answer, she dispatched backup, Castor said.

The first to arrive was a sergeant, who saw Roberts down and ran to him. Then he saw the shooter pointing an AR-15 at him.

Castor said the sergeant took cover behind a Dumpster, and the man ran away. He then rushed to his fellow officer and started performing CPR while other police converged on the scene and chased after the shooter.

Ernie Allen, 49, was walking home from the dog track and encountered the aftermath of the shooting. He said about 20 police cars roared down Nebraska Avenue and an officer was doing CPR on a man stretched out on the pavement.

An ambulance took Roberts to Tampa General Hospital's trauma center, where he died, police said. He is survived by his wife and a 3-year-old son.

Castor said the man with the shopping cart had been heavily armed. Police found two 9mm Glocks, a .22 caliber pistol and the AR-15 assault rifle in his possessions. The cart was full of military gear.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and police Chief Steve Hogue went to the hospital to meet with the officer's family, Castor said.

Castor said she had been on her way home when she heard the call go out, "Emergency. Officer injured.'' She arrived about 10 minutes after the incident.

Asked about the source of the weapons in the possession of a man pushing a shopping cart, she said he had a receipt from Fort Bragg, N.C., for the purchase of all the weapons.

He is the 27th Tampa police officer to die in the line of duty. According to police records, Master Police Officer Lois Marrero was the last officer shot in the line of duty, on July 6, 2001, and Detective Juan Serrano died in a car crash on Feb.25, 2006. He is the 17th Tampa police officer to be shot and killed in the line of duty.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publics...prings/1029217

Rest in peace Mike. You did good.

What a senseless murder! That street scum made a 3 year old boy have to grow up without his father. He took a real good cop off the streets and traumatized a bunch of his partners. Delgado, is that his name? He needs to rot in hell!

God Speed Brother Roberts.. Big Fritz (West Palm Beach PD)

In Memory Of Corporal Mike Roberts; Another HERO, in the greatest sense of the word, needlessly gunned down while protecting the citizens of Tampa, Florida. You have done an outstanding job Cpl. Mike Roberts. It is your turn to relax and rest in peace! God bless you on your new journey...! Thank you for your service and dedication to making people's lives and the world a better place! You will be sorely missed. The Polk County Sheriff's Office and Canine Unit send their deepest sympathies and thoughts and prayers to all the friends, family and officers in the great city of Tampa and county of Hillsborough County! As Detective Mike Evans so eloquently said, "A man remembered NEVER dies!!"

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of CPL Roberts. I can only hope that God has a special place for him and all that have previously mad the ultimate sacrafice for society. Although I never met CPL Roberts he is and forever shall be family to me.

To the fellow officers of Roberts I send my prayers for you also. I know it is hard to loose a friend, brother, and partner. However, remember him and he will always be with you.

Rest in Peace dear friend.
Thought & Prayers for the family during their time of grief.

The blow was great, the shock severe,
With no forwarning the end was near.
And only those who have lost can tell
The pain of parting without farewell.

It broke our hearts to lose you,
But you did not go alone.
A part of us went with you,
The day God called you home.

Nothing can ever take away,
The love a heart holds dear.
Fond memories linger every day,
Remembrance keeps him near.

RIP Bother...
JP
Monroe County Shriff's Office