According to prosecutors, Michael Monroe Banks went on a shooting spree, killing one person and injuring two, after he wanted to start a relationship with one of the survivors — a 17-year-old girl. (Mug shot: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)
A man in Tampa, Florida, went on a shooting spree after two other adults discussed kicking him out of the home because he pursued a relationship with a teenage girl, according to prosecutors in documents viewed by Law&Crime.
Authorities cite the new allegations against Michael Monroe Banks, 42, as well as his criminal history as reasons to keep him held in jail without bond. A hearing on this is set for this Wednesday. He faces a count of murder in the first degree, two counts of attempted murder in the first degree, attempted murder in the first degree of a law enforcement officer, and felon in possession of a firearm.
According to documents, cops got 911 calls this past Wednesday at 12:42 a.m. regarding a shooting on the 10000 block of N. 23rd Street in Tampa.
One of the survivors, a 60-year-old woman, said that Banks shot her and her friend at the location. Officers arrived to find the woman and her 17-year-old granddaughter outside the home.
According to authorities, Banks encountered one of the officers and fired two shots at him from the backyard. He ended up surrendering, stepping out of the home, however, prosecutors said.
Investigators found a woman slain in the home, dead from an apparent gunshot to the head.
The grandmother said that she and the now-slain victim had been talking about kicking Banks out of the home because he, in the words of documents, “was pursuing a romantic relationship” with the teenager.
“Shortly afterwards Victim 2 [the grandmother] heard a gunshot, and turned to see Victim 1 fall to the floor while the defendant stood over her holding his gun,” documents state. “Victim 2 said that the defendant then shot at her, grazing her in the head, before she fled the residence.”
The teenager told officers she was in the shower when she heard gunshots.
“She tried to push the bathroom door to keep it closed, but the defendant shot through the door at approximately head level,” police stated. “As she tried to escape the residence the defendant shot her in the leg. During a post-Miranda interview the defendant admitted to writing a letter to Victim 3 insisting that she enter into a relationship with him and not date anyone else. He heard Victim 1 and Victim 2 talking about leaving with Victim 3. He described feeling betrayed and upset. He said that he went to his room and loaded his muzzle-loader revolver. The process includes measuring gunpowder before pouring it into each of the 6 cylinders, pressing projectiles into each cylinder, and seating percussion caps for each cylinder.”
Banks allegedly admitted to shooting Victim 1 in the head, shooting at the woman in an attempt to kill her by aiming at her head and upper torso and to shooting the teenager through the bathroom door.
He allegedly admitted to reloading, stepping out the back door.
“He heard police officers yelling commands at him and saw an Officer (Victim 4) in the front yard of his neighbor’s house through the chain link fence,” documents stated. “The defendant said that he shot at the Officer twice. Shortly afterwards he put his gun on the kitchen table and surrendered.”
According to prosecutors, Banks purchased the gun from a sporting goods website a year before, even though he was a convicted felon. He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison in 2007 for aggravated battery of a pregnant female, and then five years in 2010 for simple battery second or subsequent offense.
