Man fatally shot after raising fake gun toward second man in Tampa,

TAMPA — A man fatally shot another man who had raised what turned out to be a fake gun toward him at a home in Tampa’s Lowry Park North neighborhood, police said.

Officers dispatched at about 11:30 p.m. to a call about shots fired on the 8500 block of North Hamner Avenue found a man in his late 30s suffering from gunshot wounds in his upper body, according to Tampa police. Officers provided first aid until Tampa Fire Rescue crews arrived and pronounced the man dead.

The shooter, a man in his mid-20s, stayed at the scene and cooperated with investigators.

The shooter told investigators he was sitting in his car, parked in a friend’s driveway, when the other man parked his vehicle in the street, got out, put a handgun in his waistband, approached the shooter’s vehicle and knocked on the window. The shooter told police he lowered his window and the other man “yelled something unknown before raising the gun toward him,” a news release states.

The shooter told police he thought the man was going to shoot him, so he retrieved his own gun and shot the man. Investigators determined the man’s gun was fake.

Police said the shooting was not a random act but have not said whether the two men knew each other and have not released either man’s name.

The investigation continued Friday, and police were consulting with the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office to determine what, if any, criminal charges will be filed against the shooter.