St. Pete police officer was justified in shooting armed teen

A St. Petersburg Police Department officer was justified in the October shooting of a 17-year-old accused of pointing a gun toward him, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri wrote in a letter released Wednesday by the county's use-of-force task force.

Officer Leighton Williams' actions were "lawful and proper," Gualtieri explained in the letter dated Dec. 16 to St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway. A department spokesperson said the agency will now conduct an internal review to determine whether all police policies were followed.

So what happened?

A maintenance person assigned to the city's Wildwood Recreation Center on 28th Street S. reported seeing 17-year-old Christopher Tonsel Jr. and another person, earlier reported as a 16-year-old girl, arguing in the park, according to the sheriff's office version of events about Oct. 20. The worker tried to calm the situation down by offering them a bottle of water, according to law enforcement.

The teens continued to argue over a telephone and money, the report states, with the maintenance worker taking a couple of pictures and calling 911 when he said he saw Tonsel hit the girl twice. He, too, reportedly saw a pistol handle stick out from Tonsel's pocket, according to investigators.

A responding officer who spoke with the teen girl learned the two had dated "on and off." They agreed to meet at the park, where investigators say she argued with Tonsel to get her phone back, and he had stolen $90 from her purse. Seeing "an area of redness" on the girl's face, the officer radioed there was probable cause to arrest Tonsel for domestic battery.

Williams, who responded to the area of 13th Avenue S., noticed Tonsel near a home's porch and then walk along its side. The officer ran after him with his K-9.

A portion of body camera video released by the St. Petersburg Police Department shows Williams and his K-9 pursing Tonsel. Upon seeing a gun and the teen appearing to turn toward the officer, Tonsel was ordered to "put the gun down," the sheriff's office stated. Williams fired a single round into the teen's left ribcage/abdomen, the agency added.

"Tonsel's movements and refusal to follow Officer Williams' commands created Officer Williams' well-founded fear for his life and he fired one round at Tonsel to protect himself from being shot," Gualtieri wrote in the letter.

Tonsel was taken to the hospital for treatment and was released from Bayfront Medical Center on Nov. 24. He then was booked in the Pinellas County Jail and charged as an adult on charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, carrying a concealed firearm and possession of a firearm by a person under 18 years of age.

The sheriff's office says he was arrested on two outstanding juvenile pickup orders for burglary and grand theft motor vehicle.

Prior to the release of the segment of body camera video and sheriff's office letter, a news release from the Party for Socialism and Liberation announced an upcoming rally this Friday for Tonsel. The group had demanded the release of body camera footage and urged officials to give Tonsel proper medical care, claiming he's been held for solitary confinement for 23 hours a day.

A sheriff's office spokesperson declined to comment on any medical information in regard to his care.

The St. Petersburg Police Department said it released a clip of the shooting "in the interest of transparency."
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