What began as a routine evening in a Brandon townhome community turned into a terrifying shooting scene, and WFLA News Channel 8 reporter Ryan Arbogast’s video report shows just how fast it all spiraled.
Arbogast, reporting live outside the Providence Townhomes community, said residents told him they were scared for their lives when the shots rang out Wednesday night.
He said many people he spoke with shared the same three concerns: they were frightened, they were worried about the victim’s condition, and they were confused about why door-to-door sales crews were in the gated community at all when a sign at the entrance appeared to say no soliciting was allowed.
That last point may explain frustration in the neighborhood, but it does not explain what happened next.
And that is exactly what makes this case so disturbing.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, as described in Arbogast’s report, a man is accused of opening fire on an AT&T solicitor and then chasing him down the street while shooting, allegedly with the intent to kill.
That is no longer a dispute. That is a criminal violence case with life-changing consequences.
What Happened Before the Shooting
In the WFLA report, anchors Josh Benson and Paola Suro introduced body camera and neighborhood footage that they warned was tough to watch.
Arbogast then laid out the sequence investigators say led to the shooting, and the details point to a confrontation that kept escalating instead of stopping.
According to court documents summarized in the report, the incident began when a woman working door-to-door sales for AT&T was canvassing the area and encountered Reginald McGee at his home.
The documents, as Arbogast reported, say McGee became aggressive with her, then went back inside.
The woman then contacted her manager to report what happened, and the manager and another employee came to meet her in the neighborhood.
At that point, what could have ended as a tense exchange at a door became something much more serious.
Arbogast reported that McGee came back out to confront the group, saying he needed to protect his property and verify that they were really with AT&T.
That detail matters because it shows there was a chance to de-escalate.
Instead, based on the sheriff’s office account relayed in the report, the confrontation moved toward violence.
The victim tried to walk away, but Arbogast said he was pursued by McGee, who was becoming more aggressive and stated he had a gun.
Even before shots were fired, this had already crossed into a deeply dangerous situation.
Once someone is chasing another person during an argument and talking about a firearm, the risk level changes immediately.
The Fight, The Chase, and the Gunfire
Ryan Arbogast’s report says the two men got into a physical fight before the shooting.
According to the court documents he described, McGee allegedly tore two dreadlocks from the victim’s head during the struggle, and deputies later found them on the ground.
That detail is ugly, but important. It suggests how close and personal the confrontation had become before the gunfire started.
Arbogast also reported that the victim told police he heard McGee yelling “Die, die” during the fight. If true, that statement paints a chilling picture of intent in the moments before the shooting.
The court documents, according to Arbogast, say the victim struck McGee once to stop him from shooting and then tried to run away.
That is when the case became even more horrifying. As the victim ran, Arbogast reported he was shot twice in the legs, while McGee allegedly kept chasing him.
A witness, according to the report, later told police that McGee was shooting at the victim as he ran and yelling, “Where are you? I’m gonna kill you.”
That quote, if proven in court, is one of the most damning details in the entire case.
It suggests this was not panic firing, not a warning shot, and not a confused struggle at the doorway.
It describes pursuit. And pursuit while firing at someone is exactly the kind of fact pattern that pushes a case into attempted murder territory.
“I Shot a Man” and “I Hope He’s Dead,” Deputies Say
Arbogast’s report also included one of the most shocking pieces of the sheriff’s office account: multiple 911 calls came in, including one in which the suspect could allegedly be heard saying, “I shot a man,” and, “I hope he’s dead.”
That line is where the title of this story comes from, and it is hard to overstate how grim it is.
Many criminal cases involve disputed motives. Statements like that, if accurately captured and introduced in court, can become powerful evidence about state of mind.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, as cited in Arbogast’s report, said McGee first claimed self-defense.
But the report says he later admitted to chasing the victim while emptying his magazine and screaming threats.
That shift is significant. It is one thing to claim you feared for your safety in a sudden confrontation. It is another thing entirely if investigators say the evidence shows you chased a fleeing person down the street while continuing to fire.
Arbogast also described body camera moments showing deputies taking McGee into custody at his home nearby.
The report says he was cooperative, but still armed, when deputies detained him.
That part is another reminder of how dangerous this scene could have become for everyone in the area, including neighbors, responding deputies, and anyone else outside at the time.
Evidence From the Street and the Charges Filed
According to Ryan Arbogast’s report, deputies recovered nine 9mm shell casings from the scene.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office also found an empty 10-round Glock magazine, and Arbogast said investigators described the casings as spread over a roughly 40-foot stretch of road.
That evidence layout matters because it supports the allegation that this was not a single burst fired from one spot.
It supports a moving shooting scene, with shots fired over distance in the direction the victim was running.
That kind of evidence can be powerful in court because it physically maps the event.
The sheriff’s office, according to the WFLA report, charged McGee with attempted murder with a firearm, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and discharging a firearm in public or on residential property.
Those charges reflect the seriousness of what investigators say happened. And based on the facts Arbogast relayed, it is easy to see why this case is being treated as more than just a neighborhood dispute gone wrong.
Sheriff Chad Chronister, quoted in the reporting, called it a “completely unnecessary escalation” and said a man was seriously injured simply for doing his job.
Chronister also said that when a disagreement turns into gunfire, that is a choice – and a criminal one.
That statement may sound obvious, but it is worth repeating in cases like this. Too often, people talk about shootings as if they “just happened,” as if the gun fired itself or the situation became uncontrollable on its own.
Arbogast’s report, and the sheriff’s comments in it, make clear investigators see a chain of decisions.
The Victim Survived – and That Matters
There was one piece of good news in Arbogast’s live report, and he made sure to end with it.
He said the victim, the AT&T solicitor who was shot, is expected to survive.
According to the sheriff’s office information in the report, the man was hit at least three times in the lower body – including the thigh, calf, and heel or foot area – and his injuries were described as non-life-threatening.
Arbogast also said the two women working with him were not injured.
That matters, because this could have been even worse.
When nine rounds are fired in a residential area while someone is running, the risk is not limited to the target. Neighbors, passersby, and coworkers all become potential victims in an instant.
This is one of the reasons the case is so unsettling beyond the immediate attack itself.
It is not only about one alleged shooter and one victim. It is also about how quickly one person’s rage can put an entire block in danger.
The residents Arbogast spoke with seem to understand that.
He reported that many of them were still shaken and trying to make sense of what happened, and honestly, that reaction feels completely reasonable. A lot of people can understand being annoyed by solicitors. Very few would ever expect that annoyance to end in a man being chased and shot in the street.
A Case About More Than a Neighborhood Dispute
At the center of Ryan Arbogast’s WFLA report is a basic truth that should not be controversial: being irritated, suspicious, or angry at someone knocking on your door does not justify hunting them down the street with a gun.
That is what makes Sheriff Chronister’s statement hit so hard.
This was, according to the investigation described in the report, a choice.
And if the evidence holds up in court – the witness accounts, the shell casing trail, the alleged statements, and the injuries – it will likely be remembered as a case where a routine sales stop turned into a near-fatal attack for no legitimate reason.
Arbogast also pointed to a complicated local issue when he mentioned residents asking why solicitors were inside the gated community at all.
That may remain a real neighborhood concern going forward, and communities may debate how soliciting rules are enforced.
But that policy question should not distract from the core criminal allegation here.
Rules about solicitation are one thing. Chasing a man and firing nine shots while yelling threats is something else entirely. And that is why this case is drawing so much attention across Tampa Bay.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
