Tampa, Fla. (970 WFLA) - Police say a teenager arrested after a hostage situation at a local smoke shop later confessed to killing two men at a Tampa condominium complex. Devon Arthurs, 18, faces two counts of first-degree murder as well as armed kidnapping after his arrest Friday.
Police responded to a call about a suspicious male at the Green Planet Smoke Shop on Amberly Drive at about 5:30 p.m. Friday. They arrived to find Arthurs armed and with two customers and a shop employee, whom Arthurs told were not allowed to leave.
Officers say they persuaded Arthurs to drop his weapon and let the hostages go.
In custody, police say Arthurs told them that he had killed two men at a unit in the Hamptons Condominium at 15350 Amberly Drive. There, officers found the bodies of Jeremy Himmelman, 22, and Andrew Oneschuk, 18, gunshot wounds. Arthurs appeared to be living in the unit with the two men, but police have not said what prompted the shooting.