Two Tampa police officers were injured early Saturday after a crowd of hundreds surrounded a group of officers in an "ambush," the Tampa police chief said.
Officers were responding to a report of shots fired and a possible gunshot victim at an intersection near the Ybor City neighborhood around 1 a.m., Chief Brian Duggan told reporters Monday. A crowd of hundreds was at the scene when police arrived.
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As offices searched for a possible victim, Duggan said the hundreds of people blocked all four ends of the intersection and became aggressive. The crowd surrounded officers, threw bottles and glass, and jumped on a police vehicle. Officers could not locate a victim.
"It's an ambush. I have no other way to describe it,” Duggan said. “When there are that many people out there and clearly no one had been shot. It was just a set up to get the cops there."
One officer was hit in the head with an object and suffered a small laceration and swelling, police said. The officer was treated and released from the hospital. A second officer who was hit in the head with a glass bottle is also expected to be OK.
Aerial footage from the scene shows a crowd surrounding officers at an intersection and officials can be heard over audio saying that an officer had been struck with a bottle. At one point, a large group of the crowd can be seen running away down the street. https://www.foxnews.com/us/tampa-officers-injured-hundreds-ambush-police-video
Two Tampa police officers were injured early Saturday after a crowd of hundreds surrounded a group of officers in an "ambush," the Tampa police chief said.
Officers were responding to a report of shots fired and a possible gunshot victim at an intersection near the Ybor City neighborhood around 1 a.m., Chief Brian Duggan told reporters Monday. A crowd of hundreds was at the scene when police arrived.
WASHINGTON DC COPS KEEP THEIR COOL WHILE PROTESTERS TAUNT, PROVOKE THEM IN VIRAL VIDEO
As offices searched for a possible victim, Duggan said the hundreds of people blocked all four ends of the intersection and became aggressive. The crowd surrounded officers, threw bottles and glass, and jumped on a police vehicle. Officers could not locate a victim.
"It's an ambush. I have no other way to describe it,” Duggan said. “When there are that many people out there and clearly no one had been shot. It was just a set up to get the cops there."
One officer was hit in the head with an object and suffered a small laceration and swelling, police said. The officer was treated and released from the hospital. A second officer who was hit in the head with a glass bottle is also expected to be OK.
Aerial footage from the scene shows a crowd surrounding officers at an intersection and officials can be heard over audio saying that an officer had been struck with a bottle. At one point, a large group of the crowd can be seen running away down the street.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/tampa-officers-injured-hundreds-ambush-police-video