Several community groups met with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office today to thank deputies for their professionalism and de-escalation skills while arresting a teenager connected to a deadly shooting last month.
On Saturday, September 16, 2023, deputies responded to reports of a shooting in the 11000 block of Lynmoor Drive. Simultaneously, HCSO dispatchers received several calls reporting a young male suspect running through the Summerfield subdivision armed with a handgun.
Adeem Berry, 14, can be seen on body-worn camera footage repeatedly placing the gun to his head and threatening to shoot himself. Deputies immediately began de-escalation tactics.
"The deputies who negotiated with this suspect for more than 16 minutes were calm, collected, and ultimately successful in convincing him to lower his weapon," said Sheriff Chad Chronister. "They used their remarkable intuition and expertise to determine this suspect was not looking to harm them, but was contemplating suicide."
After constant and clear commands from deputies, the suspect lowered his firearm but attempted to retrieve it again. At this point, deputies deployed a less lethal round, striking the suspect in the hand with a 40 mm launcher, to gain compliance and safely get this suspect into custody.
On October 4, 2023, several community groups, including the NAACP, Children with a Vision, and the Sheriff’s Black Community Relations Committee, came together, meeting with the deputies involved in those tense moments and thanking Sheriff Chad Chronister for providing the de-escalation training needed to resolve situations like this peacefully.
“I consider myself a mother. When you all do something right, I will praise you. When there is something wrong, I will chastise. I am so thankful to be here to be able to praise you all for your professionalism, compassion, and teamwork,” said Yvette Lewis, NAACP Hillsborough Chapter President.
“While this day is one marked by heartbreak and grief for those who knew and loved the victim, Your Sheriff’s Office was able to prevent further devastation by ensuring this young man was taken into custody safely," said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “All too often, after tragedy, we come together with the community to talk about what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future. Today, we came together to underscore this example of unparalleled policing and how the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office can guide other law enforcement agencies on what to do and how to conduct yourself in a situation like this.”