TAMPA, Fla. – Opening statements began Tuesday morning in the attempted murder trial of 23-year-old Isaiah Gibson.
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Gibsonton neighborhood shooting trial
What we know:
Prosecutors say Gibson fired almost two dozen rounds in a Gibsonton neighborhood in August 2025. Home security cameras captured footage of the shooting from multiple angles.
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The shooting allegedly stemmed from a stolen vape.
Prosecutors say Gibson was hanging out with a group of people in the garage of a home on Southwind Lake Drive. They say some men in the group walked back to their home across the street and took a vape pen that didn’t belong to them.
A woman allegedly went over to their house to retrieve the vape, but prosecutors say that when she rang the doorbell, no one answered. She returned to the house with Gibson.
Prosecutors say, as Gibson and the woman banged on the door, one man walked around to the front of the house, and Gibson began firing, as the woman pushed him back across the street to the original house screaming.
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Prosecutors say some of the bullets hit a car and a neighboring home, before Gibson ran from the area.
Attempted murder defense arguments
The other side:
Gibson’s public defender, Jason Back, pushed back about what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting.
“You’re going to see somebody come around that trailer,” Back said during opening statements. “You’re going to see Mr. Gibson and Ms. McClendon, not stopping one another, but running in fear. Running away, tumbling over each other, screaming in horror. And pay attention, close attention to that video, because the left hand corner…going to show that person walking towards them in an aggressive manner, and you’re going to see an extension of something that resembles a firearm.”
The defense argues Gibson fled the scene because he was terrified of being shot.
What’s next:
Gibson faces several charges, including attempted murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The trial is expected to continue with additional testimony Wednesday.
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