GUN PANIC
Terrifying moment jackpot winners are ambushed & shot by gunmen after coming home from date at the casino
The couple says they were robbed of more than just material objects
SHOCKING video shows the moment a couple is attacked outside their home after a lucky night at the casino.
A night that featured a massive celebration at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino ended in terror for the winning couple when they were followed home, ambushed, and brutally robbed in their driveway - all caught on their Ring doorbell.
9
9
9
Kim Chambliss and her boyfriend, Val Delacruz, had just returned from what was supposed to be a joyous date night at the Florida casino where they won $3,300.
But soon after their exciting win, their evening took a horrifying turn. as they returned home at around 5 am.
Two masked men, armed and dangerous, surrounded their car as they pulled into their driveway, demanding money.
The attackers, later identified as Marcus Jenkins and Tristin Wright, who were both arrested shortly after, had followed the couple from the casino, tracking their every move for hours.
Read More News
Unbeknownst to them, their winnings made them targets.
As they left the casino and drove home, they were unaware that Jenkins and his accomplices were tailing them.
Police say that the video cameras from the casino and victims’ neighborhoods piece much of the story together.
According to the police affidavit, Delacruz and Chambliss arrived at the casino around 1 am, playing the slots until 4.
Most read in The US Sun
As they were exiting the casino, surveillance video captured Jenkins — wearing the shoes with the same unique pattern caught on the couple's ring camera in front of their home — on his phone and following the couple to their car.
US city dubbed ‘Mini Vegas on water’ has 10 casino resorts, huge golf ranges, and river taxis
The couple then drove away as Jenkins and the other two suspects tailed them, according to police.
Cameras throughout the neighborhood also showed both men following the couple home, the affidavit said.
The attackers then struck as soon as the couple arrived home, shooting Delacruz and Chambliss before making off with Delacruz’s watch, jewelry, and Chambliss’s purse.
Delacruz was shot in his right thigh and left knee while his girlfriend had a bullet in the back of her leg.
Police recovered a total of five shell casings at the scene.
The quick response from Hillsborough County deputies likely saved Delacruz's life.
The officers applied a tourniquet to his leg, needed to stop the bleeding from a through-and-through wound that could have been fatal.
"I lost so much blood, if they didn’t do that, I wouldn’t have made it," Delacruz said, grateful for the life-saving intervention.
But while their physical items were stolen, and the couple is okay, they both feel that they have lost something far more valuable than material objects - their sense of security.
9
9
Video from their Ring camera captured the horror as it unfolded, showing Delacruz being shot in both legs while pleading with the attackers.
A neighbor’s intervention likely prevented further violence, causing the robbers to flee the scene.
"I hear another gunshot and my first thought was, 'They've killed him.' I was hysterical, I screamed and cried," Chambliss told local Fox affiliate WTVT-TV.
Despite his injuries, Delacruz managed to make a desperate plea for his life as he lay on the ground, wounded and bleeding.
"I ran and I fell in the door, and the other guy came out and shot me again for the third time in my left leg," Delacruz said about the brutal attack.
The couple later learned that Jenkins and Wright had been watching them at the casino for over two hours before following them home, a revelation that left them shaken to the core.
I hear another gunshot and my first thought was they've killed him.
Kim Chambliss
"We're just average people, you know, who are out having a good time, who love each other and enjoy each other's company," Chambliss said.
"And to know that we didn't even realize that people were following us every step of the way. It's scary. It's scary," she continued, still reeling from the situation.
"We've always felt safe in our home. Safe in the neighborhood. To have that taken away, to have just such an insecure feeling," Chambliss said.
Now, Val Delacruz faces a long road to recovery. The injuries have left him unable to walk, with doctors estimating it could take six months before he’s back on his feet.
He even missed out on taking his son to his first day of school this week.
Read More on The US Sun
"I couldn’t even walk him into his second-grade class," said Delacruz.
The physical and emotional toll is compounded by mounting medical bills, and Delacruz has been forced to set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs.
9
9
9
9