Teen Arrested In Deadly Shooting Of St. Pete Officer

ST. PETERSBURG (CBS4) - St. Petersburg Police have arrested a 16 year-old boy in the shooting death of an officer late Monday night.

The teen, who has not been identified because of his age, has been arrested on a juvenile charge of first degree murder. It will be up to prosecutors whether to charge the teen as an adult.

"When he did make the admission on tape for us at the end of the day, it was quite apparent that he was remorseful in his actions," Harmon said during a late night news conference. "He cried."

According to the department, around 10:30 p.m. Officer David Crawford, 46, was instructed to check out a suspicious person near Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. Crawford spotted the guy but when he got out his patrol car and went to approach him, things went horribly wrong. Officer Donald Ziglar said he heard an exchange of gunfire and found Crawford on the ground by his cruiser, he had been shot multiple times. Crawford was rushed to Bayfront Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

"It breaks my heart," Harmon said. "When you have something like this happen, you don't expect this type of confrontation between a 16-year-old and a police officer to end like this. He's going to be paying for this for the rest of his life."

Harmon says several tips led police to the teen, who has a criminal past but he did not give specifics. It is also not clear how where the teen got the gun.

Twenty six year old Anthony Ciecalone said he was sitting on his porch when he heard the gunshots. Ciecalone said he also saw a man running away and then saw a car peel out of the area.

Last month, St. Petersburg police officers Jeffrey A. Yaslowitz and Thomas Baitinger were killed as they helped serve a warrant on a man with a long criminal history.

"This city has been through hell," Mayor Bill Foster said at the news conference. "Our hearts are broken."

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