Florida man, Christopher Stamat Jr, shot at homeless family of 5 in car, struck pregnant mom: police

A Florida man has been arrested after investigators said he opened fire on a homeless family of five who were sleeping in their car at a park in Tampa last week. (Read More Here).

Christopher Stamat Jr., 21, is facing six felony charges following the shooting that unfolded around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday on the 2200 block of N Oregon Avenue in a parking lot across from the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Complex, the Tampa Police Department said Saturday.

Stamat allegedly fired at a vehicle as a father in his 30s and a pregnant mother in her 20s were sleeping inside with their three children, ages nine, four and three. The mother was struck in the head but suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was recovering at a hospital. The father and children were unharmed.

“At approximately 4:30 AM, a family of five was sleeping in their vehicle in a parking lot across from the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Complex when the father, an adult male in his 30s, saw headlights from a vehicle that pulled up in front of their car,” officers said. “Immediately after, he heard gunshots and yelled for his wife, an adult female in her 20s, and three children to get down. More than a dozen shots were fired at the vehicle before the suspect sped off, heading southbound on N Oregon Ave.”

The mother got hit in the head but survived with a non-life threatening injury, police said. She was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital.

“The children, a 9-year-old girl, 4-year-old boy, and 3-year-old girl, were all uninjured,” police said. “According to the family, they recently moved back to Tampa after living out of state for several months. Due to a relative in Tampa not having additional room to house them, the family has been living in a rental car.”

Cops said they worked with Choice Hotels to get temporary housing for the family.

Now police say it was Stamat.

“Through investigative means, detectives identified Christopher Stamat Jr., 21, as the owner of the black 2-door 300 series 2012 BMW seen on multiple surveillance videos canvassing the area of N Oregon Ave in the early morning hours of October 5,” cops said. “On October 6, Stamat’s vehicle was located in the garage of a home on the 3200 block of Marcellus Circle in Tampa.”