Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies shot dead Levonia Riggins, 22, during a SWAT raid on a house at 1432 Longwood Loop in the Clair-Mel area near Tampa around 8 a.m. on 30 August 2016.[1][2] Riggins had been the subject of a month-long drug investigation, and police said they used the SWAT team because of his criminal record and reports that he owned guns.[1][2] When deputies arrived, everyone inside came out except Riggins, who had been commanded to leave several times; Deputy Caleb Johnson found him in a bedroom and fired one shot after perceiving him as an immediate threat.[1] Riggins died later at Tampa General Hospital, and the sheriff’s office later said it appeared he had been unarmed.[1][2]
The raid followed undercover marijuana purchases from Riggins earlier that summer, and a family friend said investigators recovered about two grams of marijuana from his body, a figure the sheriff’s office had not confirmed.[1][2] The killing set off days of protests in the Clair-Mel area, with demonstrators blocking intersections and five people arrested.[2] The Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office and a sheriff’s internal team were investigating the shooting.[1][2]
