'Scariest moment of my life': One killed, two injured in late night Tallahassee shooting

The Tallahassee Police Department is investigating a shooting at a west-side apartment complex that left one person dead, two others injured and residents in shock and fearing for their lives.

The shooting happened just after 1 a.m. at ReNew Tallahassee, located at 1505 W. Tharpe St., TPD said in social media posts.

"One victim, an adult male, succumbed to his injuries on scene," TPD said. "Additionally, an adult male and an adult female sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were transported to a local hospital for treatment."

Heather Merritt, a TPD spokeswoman, told the Democrat on Wednesday that any suspect was still at-large.

"At this time, the investigation is still ongoing and no arrests have been made," she said.

Detectives asked that anyone who witnessed the incident but didn't speak to officers on scene call TPD at 850-891-4200 or the anonymous Crime Solvers line at 850-574-TIPS.

"Updates will be provided as more information becomes available," the department said.

Resident at apartment complex describes harrowing gunfire, screams

Alexandra Roberts, who resides at ReNew, said she was up drawing and listening to music in her bedroom when she heard four or five gunshots in rapid succession and a woman scream in the parking lot outside her window.

She quickly unplugged the light in her room so no one could see inside and ran to make sure all the doors to the apartment were locked before taking shelter in her bathroom and calling 911.

“I was like in quick-thinking mode,” she said.

Roberts said TPD officers and SWAT team members arrived quickly with assault rifles and shields and scoured the property to find a suspect. A couple of hours later, she and her roommate heard police yelling at someone to come out with their hands up. But police said later that no one had been taken into custody.

After the scene began to quiet down, she and her roommate looked out her bedroom window and saw crime scene tape, evidence markers on the pavement and a police privacy fence around a body. She said officers processed the scene for hours, finally leaving after sunrise.

Roberts said she normally feels safe in the apartment complex, which is gated and manned by security 24 hours a day. But the shooting left her and others on edge. She grew up on military bases and said she was used to the sound of gunfire, but not in her own backyard.

“It was one of the scariest moments of my life,” she said.

So far this year, 15 people have died and 32 people have been injured in at least 39 serious shooting incidents in Tallahassee and Leon County, according to a Tallahassee Democrat analysis.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 'Scariest moment of my life': One killed, two injured in late night Tallahassee shooting