Two days after a suspect fleeing police drove into patrons on the front patio of Bradley's on 7th, killing four people and injuring 13 others, the popular Ybor City gay bar reopened.
Read more: Four dead, 13 injured after a police chase ends in Ybor City crash
"We all come together like we're doing tonight. No one wanted to come out. It's really cold, but when [the owner] Bradley [Nelson] said they're gonna reopen because we have to stay strong and stay together as a community...that's the reason we're here," said Denis Ramsay, who was standing on the front patio just feet from a memorial of flowers, prayer candles, and trinkets set up outside the front door.
Ramsay said Ybor City used to shut down the busy 7th Avenue in the past, limiting it to just foot traffic, and believes city officials and law enforcement should consider it again.
He'd also like to see more police presence.
Mark Vigorito, who was at Bradley's with Ramsay, agreed. He referred to an October 2023 shooting in Ybor City that left two people dead — including a 14-year-old boy and 20-year-old man — and 16 others injured.
He said things haven't changed much since then.
"There's still no cops patrolling this," he said.
"I thought things would change at that point, but they didn't," Ramsay added. "We're good folks here. We just want to have fun and go out for a night and have a couple drinks. We don't need that."
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor addressed closing 7th Avenue at a Monday morning news conference in Ybor City.
Spectrum Bay News 9 reports she said the idea has been discussed in the past, but cited studies that said the idea would actually make things more dangerous.
"All of the data tells us that it's safer to have 7th Avenue open because it prevents the congregation of individuals that are coming with no intent to patronize the establishments, restaurants or other entertainment venues," she said.
She added that there is a large police presence in Ybor City.
"We have facial recognition, we have license plate readers," Castor said. "We just signed a contract for drone deployment that we’re going to pilot in this area."
Tampa City Council member Louis Viera told Bay News 9 the council will explore all options.
"We are going to be talking to the community and the appropriate professionals on additional steps that we can to make sure that something like this doesn't ever happen again, and so that we can take further steps to protect folks on 7th Avenue," Viera said.
Following the 2023 shooting, the council briefly considered instituting a curfew for teenagers in Ybor City, but instead decided to expand evening youth programs through a joint effort by Tampa Police and Tampa Parks and Recreation.
Read more: An expert in pursuits questions the police chase that ended in a fatal Ybor City crash
Nelson posted to his bar's Facebook page early Saturday, just hours after the incident, to say the bar is "known for being a very tight-knit family of employees and customers" and that "in respect of those that were killed and injured, along with the mental trauma the staff has experienced," Bradley's would close until Monday night.
In a news release on its website, the Tampa Police Department said at this time, there is no evidence to indicate that the driver targeted any specific people or businesses.
The Florida Highway Patrol is leading the investigation into the crash.
