The Tampa Police Department will host a gun buyback program this coming Saturday at the Seminole Heights Baptist Church, located at 801 E. Hillsborough Avenue near I-275. Those who turn in a shotgun, assault rifle or handgun will be given $50, no questions asked.
The event follows a series of shootings in East Tampa (with the most high-profile incident occurring at Club Manilla on 7th Avenue). Police Chief Jane Castor says the idea for the buyback came out of a series of community meetings regarding the outbreak of gun violence.
Castor made the announcement outside the TPD's East Tampa headquarters on 22nd Street. She was joined by Mayor Bob Buckhorn, Tampa Bay Lightning CEO Tod Leiweke (the Lightning are contributing $12,500 to the program) and Mary Reynolds, the grandmother of one of those recently slain by a gun in East Tampa, 16-year-old Jamarie Hodges.
Hodges was shot and killed on November 6 while attempting to help a friend who was in a fight, according to police. A warrant has been issued for the suspect; Reynolds begged today that he turn himself in.
Reynolds said she was the caregiver for Jamarie and his two brothers, which she said was hard for a grandmother.
"I had to play the mother role, the father role, and the grandmother role…I raised those three boys to the best of my knowledge. Some people may say I failed in that role, but I only have to answer to God," she said, the pain evident in her voice. She pleaded for those with guns in the neighborhood or their homes to hand the weapons over to the police.
This article appears in Dec 1-7, 2011.