Published time: December 21, 2014 15:39
The shooting occurred early Sunday morning near the coastal town’s Sponge Docks, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and Tarpon Springs Police Department are investigating the incident.
Authorities have confirmed that both the victim and the suspect were male, but have not yet released any more information. A police news conference is planned for Sunday.
The killing comes on the heels of Saturday’s double police murder in New York. A 28-year-old African-American man shot and killed two police officers in Brooklyn before turning the gun on himself. The man had posted assassination threats, including pictures of the pistol he would use to kill the officers, on Instagram earlier that day.
READ MORE: NY cops shooter was almost tracked after posting threats to avenge Brown and Garner
The suspect’s alleged Instagram posts have led investigators to believe that the gunman was seeking to avenge the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, the two unarmed black man who were killed by police officers earlier this year, spurring mass protests against police brutality and racial profiling nationwide.
READ MORE: Protest against police brutality invades NYC’s Times Square
The person believed to be the gunman used the hashtags #RIPEricGarner and #RIPMichaelBrown under the threatening pictures, captioned “They Take 1 Of Ours . . . Let’s Take 2 of Theirs” and “I’m Putting Wings on Pigs Today.”
