Witnesses not cooperating with police in murder of Ricardo McCalop Jr, Florida man found dead
Police are trying to determine what led up to a Florida man being killed late Wednesday in east Tampa.
Ricardo McCalop Jr., 26, died overnight at Tampa General Hospital after suffering upper body trauma. Police were called at 11:03 p.m. to 3416 N. 55th St., in the Grant Park area of East Tampa, near North 55th Street and East 28th Avenue.
While multiple witnesses were at the scene, only a few people are cooperating with police, authorities said. Police have not detailed how McCalop was killed, only adding that many people were in the area when he was killed. Most of those people left the scene before police arrived, however, and few have come forward to detail what happened.
Authorities said the killing appears to be some kind of targeted attack.
“You’ve got a grieving family. You’ve got a young man that certainly didn’t deserve to have this happen to him tonight,” said Tampa Police Lt. Mike Stout. “We need their help to make sure this is an incident we can quickly solve.”
Police said McCalop had a lengthy criminal history with recent charges of drug possession, delivery and intent to sell. Police are not saying if those recent crimes had anything to do with his murder.
Authorities are asking anyone with information to call them at (813) 231-6130.
Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay is offering a reward of up to $3,000 for information that leads to the identification and arrest of the suspect in this case. Call 1-800-873-TIPS (8477), or report anonymously online atwww.crimestopperstb.com.