but doesnt' shoot back
Victim in Pasco hate crime had gun, decided not to use it - Tampa Bay Times
Victim in Pasco hate crime had gun, decided not to use it - Tampa Bay Times
Cameron Mohammed isn't Muslim or Middle Eastern. His parents are from Trinidad. He was born and raised in Tampa. Raised Catholic. He has had a concealed weapons permit for five years.
Friday afternoon, in the living room of the family's West Tampa home, he described the shooting. He wore the same black hooded jacket he was wearing when he was shot and pointed out the blood spots dried between the fibers.
On Monday, he is scheduled to have the pellets one embedded in his forehead over his left eyebrow, the other just under his jaw removed. He can't look upward without a sharp pain over his left eye.
He is taking a couple of semesters off from school at Hillsborough Community College and has recently been working at a friend's auto body shop.
He said he has been dating his girlfriend for a year and a half. He said she told him that night that Quinnell was staring at her menacingly as they pulled into the parking lot to get some food.
Mohammed says he remembers giving the man a wide berth as he passed in his car.
At some point during the shooting, Mohammed said, his girlfriend must have remembered a conversation the couple had months ago. He told her if they were ever in a dangerous situation, she should keep quiet and find safe cover.
In the Walmart surveillance footage, as the assailant sweeps from behind and levels his gun, Mohammed's girlfriend disappears behind a column, safe from fire.
After taking two pellets to his head and neck, Mohammed stands and watches the man flee, then notices a bystander who could have been hit if Mohammed had taken a shot. His hand is on his gun. But it stays in the holster.