Shooting Suspect Obtained Gun From Sheriff
Charged With Killing Ex-Girlfriend Hours Later
Nov. 8, 2000
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- A man accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend had fled from a mental facility and retrieved his gun from authorities shortly before the slaying.
Stephen Howard Look, 21, had been taken to a mental facility and his gun had been confiscated after he called his ex-girlfriend to a motel room Nov. 1 and threatened to kill himself. He said he was depressed because she was breaking up with him, police said.
The woman, Jennifer Thompson, 20, called police saying she couldn't persuade Look not to harm himself.
Held for psychiatric exam
Police took him into custody under a state law requiring a psychiatric exam for anyone believed to be a threat to themselves or someone else. He was taken to a mental facility, but he escaped over a fence the next day, said Pinellas Park police spokesman Sanfield Forseth.
Police issued an alert classifying Look as a suicide risk, but three days later, he walked into the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office to reclaim his gun and walked out with it after deputies found no past felonies or criminal charges pending.
Within five hours, authorities say, Thompson was fatally shot in the head. She was found dead in her car Monday at a Tampa industrial park.
Look, who is charged with first-degree murder in her slaying, contacted his mother soon afterward.
"He said, 'Mom, I did something really, really bad,'" said his mother, Susan LeClair. He allegedly told her that he had shot Thompson because she was seeing another man.
"He never gave me any clues he was going to hurt himself or hurt anyone else," LeClair said.
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Skyhawk
[This message has been edited by Skyhawk (edited November 08, 2000).]
Charged With Killing Ex-Girlfriend Hours Later
Nov. 8, 2000
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- A man accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend had fled from a mental facility and retrieved his gun from authorities shortly before the slaying.
Stephen Howard Look, 21, had been taken to a mental facility and his gun had been confiscated after he called his ex-girlfriend to a motel room Nov. 1 and threatened to kill himself. He said he was depressed because she was breaking up with him, police said.
The woman, Jennifer Thompson, 20, called police saying she couldn't persuade Look not to harm himself.
Held for psychiatric exam
Police took him into custody under a state law requiring a psychiatric exam for anyone believed to be a threat to themselves or someone else. He was taken to a mental facility, but he escaped over a fence the next day, said Pinellas Park police spokesman Sanfield Forseth.
Police issued an alert classifying Look as a suicide risk, but three days later, he walked into the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office to reclaim his gun and walked out with it after deputies found no past felonies or criminal charges pending.
Within five hours, authorities say, Thompson was fatally shot in the head. She was found dead in her car Monday at a Tampa industrial park.
Look, who is charged with first-degree murder in her slaying, contacted his mother soon afterward.
"He said, 'Mom, I did something really, really bad,'" said his mother, Susan LeClair. He allegedly told her that he had shot Thompson because she was seeing another man.
"He never gave me any clues he was going to hurt himself or hurt anyone else," LeClair said.
************************************************************
Skyhawk
[This message has been edited by Skyhawk (edited November 08, 2000).]