A shooting before 3 a.m. on Sunday Oct 23. in Ybor city leaves a 20-year-old man dead, leaving the question, is Ybor city safe? Before the shooting occurred, there were seen to be several people getting into a physical fight.
The fight happened at N 16th St.and E 7th Ave. The victim was shot by 21-year-old Jatony Tykeese Torres, who was soon arrested.
Torres was seen fleeing from officers, who later caught him three blocks away and recovered the gun used. Torres has been charged with first-degree premeditated murder, and police are working to find a second male who was armed and also fired a weapon during the fight.
Ybor is a historic neighborhood known by many as a nightlife area. It has many clubs and restaurants of different varieties, which is why it is so popular among many people, especially college students.
With the recent tragedy, it comes to question, is Ybor safe? Moreover, why do people still go to that area if it is not?
Police were patrolling the area, yet the shooting was still possible. Who knows what else could be possible, even with police around?
Ybor, a beautiful city at night, is also crowded with different people carrying weapons, and it is an area where gang affiliation does take place.
When asked, a few students of the University of Tampa and the University of South Florida agreed that Ybor is not a safe area. They also agreed that there are better places to go partying.
Many students believe that people go to Ybor, especially college students, because they are less strict on checking identification. Ybor has a lot of 18 and older clubs, which means many college students can go clubbing, and all they would have to do is pay a cover charge that is about ten dollars more than the usual entry rates.
They are also lax in checking the IDs of students to see if they can purchase alcohol. This then proposes another question, is Ybor populated because of its lax IDing?
The answer is yes, but many restaurants and shopping areas make Ybor a beautiful area to visit both night and day.
Ybor is not safe, but neither is most of the world. So as long as you are aware of your surroundings, you can make the most of anything.
So go out and have fun, but always have someone sober capable of caring for the entire group.