Standoff ends with arrest following gunshots in New Tampa CVS

After an armed robbery at a CVS pharmacy, shots fired and a standoff at a nearby apartment, Tampa police say they now have their suspect behind bars.

The incident started around 8 p.m. Thursday at the CVS pharmacy on Bruce B. Downs in New Tampa, where police say 21-year-old James Taylor hit up the pharmacy for prescription pills.

He was masked, gloved and armed as he demanded the pharmacist to hand over the drugs, and “when we he felt the pharmacist wasn't moving fast enough, he fired a couple of shots off into the wall until he was given pills,” explained Tampa Police Lieutenant Michael Stout.

Witnesses told detectives he then took off, and before long, his car was spotted at the nearby Portofino Apartment complex.

They found Taylor in one of the apartments, and say that’s where a lengthy standoff took place.

“He made some threats about possibly having explosives and other things in the apartment,” said Lt. Stout, “which caused us to evacuate the entire building and some surrounding buildings as well.”

Detectives also blocked off the neighborhood, and only allowed residents who lived a safe distance from the suspect’s building to enter.

Officials said negotiations went on for two hours before Taylor finally surrendered.

He’s since been arrested and taken to jail.