TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Police Department honored the memories of the four people killed 20 years ago by one of the Bay area's most notorious killers.
Saturday marks 20 years since convicted felon Hank Earl Carr – who was being questioned in the shooting death of his girlfriend's 4-year-old son – escaped from his handcuffs before killing two Tampa Police Department detectives and a Florida state trooper.
The Tampa Police Department posthumously honored detectives Randy Bell and Ricky Childers at a remembrance ceremony on Saturday morning.
Childers' son Ricky Childers II spoke with 10News about his memories of May 19, 1998.
"I heard about the little boy getting killed over the radio," Childers II said. "So, I was just driving around Tampa and called up my dad and left a message and said, 'Hey, I'm in the area. We're downtown. Maybe we can meet for lunch,' and then I heard that two officers were shot and killed.
"I just had a bad feeling in my gut."
The same day, Carr also shot and killed Florida Highway Patrol Trooper James "Brad" Crooks before killing himself during a police standoff at a Hernando County gas station on State Road 50.
Nearly 20 years later, Childers II watched footage from the crime scene on May 19, 1998. It was the first time he'd seen it "in years."
"It brought back an emotion that wow, this was 20 years ago," Childers II said. "It still only feels like maybe a handful of years."
Childers II said his 15-year-old son didn't want to see the footage, calling it "very tough to watch."
In the aftermath of the killings, Childers II called the memorial for his father "touching."
How it happened
Before the standoff, detectives Bell and Childers conducted the investigation on the shooting death of the boy, whom Carr had shot and killed with an assault rifle.
Carr – who was a convicted felon with a history of violence – had provided the detectives a false name and date of birth. Both Bell and Childers believed Carr was a grieving father.
The detectives took Carr back to the crime scene to clarify what happened. When the three men left the scene, they put the assault rifle in the trunk of their car. They then handcuffed Carr, but put the cuffs on him in the front of his body. The Tampa Police Department said Carr was not under arrest during the transport.
While exiting Interstate 275 South on the Floribraksa Avenue ramp, Carr used a hidden handcuff key from his pants, unlocked his handcuffs and wrestled Childers' gun from his holster.
Carr then shot and killed Childers and Bell. It marked the first time in Tampa Police Department history two detectives lost their lives on the same day.
Carr left the police car, took the assault rifle from the trunk and stole a pickup truck. He then headed north on I-275. Carr fired several times on police officers and civilians during the pursuit, according to Tampa police.
When Crooks tried to stop Carr on State Road 54 in Hernando County, Carr got out of the stolen truck, fatally shot Crooks and ran into a gas station on State Road 50 with a hostage.
Carr released the hostage and took his own life before a SWAT Team could enter the building.
Mark Bergin is a journalist with 10News WTSP. Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter and Instagram. You can also email him at mbergin@wtsp.com.
