TAMPA, Fla. — Tuesday, Oct. 29, marked one year since a shooting in Ybor City left two people dead and 16 others injured.

Tampa police and the Ybor Historic District business community hosted “Ybor Night Out: A Time of Remembrance and Resilience,” at 1920 Ybor City to honor the victims and recognize the community’s strength. 

What You Need To Know

  • The "Ybor Night Out" event marked one year since the shooting that killed two and injured 16 along E. 7th Ave.

  • Police Chief Lee Bercaw said the event was about honoring victims and recognizing the resilience of the Ybor City community

  • It was attended by survivors, including Emily Perez and Kila Ryker. Both said they're doing well, although they faced long roads to recovery

  • Read previous coverage here

“This case is definitely the biggest case I’ve ever worked. Not just as a chief, but as a police officer for nearly 30 years here,” said Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw. 

Among the attendees were Emily Perez, 19, and Kila Ryker, 21. Perez said being back on E. 7th Ave. brought up bad memories.

“It was kind of hard, especially since I had to walk where the scene was to get here. All the emotions are riled up, but I’m just glad that I’m still here,” she said.

On Oct. 28, 2023, Perez and Ryker dressed in costumes and joined the crowds, celebrating Halloween weekend in Ybor City. Both were shot as police say a fight between two groups led to gunfire in the early morning hours of Oct. 29. 

“We were ready to go home,” said Ryker. “We were walking, and then I just remember hearing the gunfire, like gunshots going off. So, I’m trying to see where she’s at, because I literally had her next to me, and so for her to disappear, I was like, ‘Uh-oh.’ So, I turn around and see her on the ground. I’m trying to run back to her, but then it was, like, you gotta think, 10,000 people running at you. You’re scared. So, I get turned around, and then I automatically got shot.”

Spectrum News spoke with Perez the day after the shooting. She said she felt lucky to be alive after being shot in the leg and back. One year later, she said she’s doing well.

“Health-wise, I’m good,” she said. “I got the bullets removed in December. I’m back working, back to my normal life, just trying to move on. I’m still keeping the story alive, especially for Harrison, as we both got shot by the same person.”

Harrison Boonstoppel, 20, was one of two people killed in the shooting, along with Elijah Wilson, 14. 

Bercaw said a number of changes have been implemented in the past year to make Ybor safer. They include city council updating an ordinance to require security in parking lots and getting a state grant to triple the number of cameras and add license plate readers. 

“We went to Orlando and looked at what Orlando was doing,” said Bercaw. “We found some things that would work here and some things that wouldn’t. One of the things was the majority of their officers were off duty, coming in on their days off, as opposed to working all on-duty. That’s something that we incorporated here.”

Harrison Boonstoppel’s parents, Brucie and Karel, along with his brother, Nicholas, and twin sister, Ava, appeared at the event, as well. His mother, Brucie, spoke of the health challenges Harrison overcame after he and his sister were born prematurely and called him “a courageous, funny, loving young man whose presence here made the world a better place”.

She praised Tampa police and State Attorney Suzy Lopez for their work on the case and the support they provided her family in the past year.

“The harsh reality is they can be doing everything possible, but unfortunately, you can’t stop a bullet. We have to care. We have to move forward. We have to be the change,” Brucie said. 

As for Perez and Ryker, some of the physical effects of the shooting remain. Ryker said she was shot in the femoral artery and had a long, hard road to recovery that involved re-learning how to walk and permanent nerve damage.

“I was healthy when I was on this earth. Now, I’m not going to be as healthy leaving this earth,” she said. “That’s a sad thing to say, but it’s a good thing, they said, that it happened to me when I was younger, because if it happened to me older, it was going to be ten times worse for recovery.”

The women said they’re not just victims of the shooting, they’re survivors. Ryker has a reminder of that tattooed on her arm — the words “I Survived” underneath the date of the shooting in Roman numerals. 

“We’re blessed to be here in this position, even getting to talk to you guys, and even getting to be here and not letting it affect us enough not to be here,” Ryker said.