St. Pete Man Shot, Killed During Fight in Tampa: Police

A St. Petersburg man was shot to death, another was pistol whipped and a third was threatened, all by the same suspect, during an argument over the weekend in Tampa, authorities said.

Tampa Police detectives and the U.S. Marhsals Fugitive Task Force tracked down 19-year-old John Fitzgerald Chatman Jr. to his Northeast Coachman Road apartment in Clearwater using witness statements and Chatman's social media accounts and arrested him around 3:45 p.m. Sunday.

He is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Christian Maffu, 20, of St. Petersburg.

The incident began a little after 3 a.m. Saturday in a parking lot at 1600 E. Fifth Ave. in Tampa, where Maffu and his friends were arguing, investigators say.

Chatman and his friends overheard the argument "and began taunting the victims," Tampa Police spokesperson Laura McElroy said in a media release.

Chatman then allegedly went to his car that was parked nearby and came back with a firearm. He approached a 20-year-old St. Petersburg man, who was fighting with one of Chatman's friends, and pistol whipped him, police said.

Chatman then pointed his gun at a third man, a St. Petersburg 19-year-old, and threatened to kill him, McElroy said. That's when Maffu tried to protect his friend by punching Chatman, who knocked Maffu to the ground and fired a shot, according to police.

Maffu was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Chatman was being held in Hillsborough County Jail without bond, online records show.